The Circle of Six
by chibamishiro
Summary: Complete. Six chosen warriors. Six Elements. Determination, Adventure, Bravery, Decisions, Romance, Trust. The'll need this to defeat chaos. SerenityxSeto JoeyxMai YamixTea Read and Reply!
1. Chapter 1: Hearing the Legend

This is my first story ever on I hope you enjoy.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own anything except those awesome show I bought last weekend.

**The Circle of Six**

**Chapter 1**

_Hearing the Legend_

In the eastern parts of the world, boarded by the Kekan Ocean, the country of Arilea to the west and Crishan to the north lies the country of Sekina. Though not as large as it's neighboring country of Arilea, Sekina is rich in forests and minerals of all sorts. In the mines of the west, near the Kekan Ocean, along the Lalani river, workersdig and find precious sapphire while the mines in the south find rubies.

In the center of Sekina lies the capital, Vocara. Vocara is were the kingdom of Sekina lies. On top of hill, overlooking the city of Vocara is the great castle of the country. The colors of Sekina, an emerald falcon holding a sun and flower in its claws on a white field, flys proudly from the towers. A few miles to the north of the castle is the infamous, Lake of Dreams. It is said that if you sleep one night next to the lake your dreams, or nightmares, will come true.

To the east is the royal forest, where pages in their fourth year must spend the night. To the west are the kennels, training yards, and stables. In the stables a girl is slowly brushing a mare's golden brown mane. The girl is around 5'4" with long, auburn hair currently up in a high ponytail. The few strands not tied up fell loosely around her face, shadowing her eyes.

She was dressed in men's gear: dark brown breeches and a light brown tunic, fitting her perfectly, brown leggings and care worn boots. The only sign of wealth she wore was a diamond ring on her right ring finger and diamond earrings. As she continued to thoroughly brush the horse's mane a voice cried out. "Serenity!"

The girl slightly stiffened and stopped brushing. Hearing the same voice shout again, she groaned and threw the brush into a crate to the left of the stall and patted her cocoa mare, whispering, "I'll come back later and give you a carrot, Sierra."

The girl leaned out of the stall casually. She heard stomping and sighed. _Why was he always stomping around?_ She wondered. As she thought, the stomping continued to get louder. She saw a shadow on the right wall on the stable and closed her eyes. It was very dusty in here. "Serenity! Serenity! Where are-" the voice faltered.

She opened her eyes, revealing childish chocolate brown orbs. She was staring into almost identical colored ones, though they had a more serious look in them. "Found you," the boy stated, straitening.

"Kiry told you where I was," Serenity said, "You're not that good at find anything Joey."

Joey was Serenity's older brother and probably her best friend. He was around 5'10" in height with messy blonde hair and a grin almost always on his face. He wore a dark green tunic with brown breeches and white leggings. His black boots looked brand new which they were. They were a gift from their uncle in Fief Coonlek, near the sapphire mines.

A few weeks ago, Joey officially became a knight to the Sekina Kingdom. After long years of training he had become what he had always dreamed to be. There was a little set back to the fact, though. He wasn't really allowed to go anywhere without the King's permission. That was because Joey was the heir to the Sekina throne.

Prince Joseph (only Serenity called him Joey) was almost bored out of his mind in this kingdom. He wasn't allowed to leave the capital without the King's official guard and himself wearing armor, chain mail, and carrying a shield. He wanted adventure, not sitting in the dining halls listening to old geezers talking about their fiefs and cities or dancing endlessly with thousands of girls that he would never like. He wanted fights, danger, suspense, and maybe a little romance on the side.

Joey returned back to reality when he felt someone flick his ear painfully. Growling, he chased Serenity, who was giggling madly, out of the stables.

* * *

"Presenting the Prince and Princess of Sekina, Prince Joseph and Princess Serenity," drawled a court minister standing next to the stair rail, dressed in the official colors of Sekina. He was reading off of a piece a parchment about a foot long, with names in two columns on the paper.

Joey and Serenity descended together. Serenity had a white-gloved hand draped over Joey's pale green dress shirt. Serenity walked slowly and smiled at the guests. She was dressed in a red silk dress that had golden embroideries around the hem and collar. Her satin slippers pinched her feet whenever she stepped down a stair. As she made it to the floor, she was immediately escorted away from her brother to a group of ladies fanning themselves gracefully to the left of the stairs.

She held her sigh in touching her diamond necklace for comfort. It was the one her mother had given her, before she had…had died.

Serenity sat down next to a girl with her blond curls in pigtails on the side of her head. Before Serenity could strike up a conversation, she was immediately asked to dance, which she accepted reluctantly.

* * *

Joey stood next to the king, watching his sister being whirled across the floor by a young knight from the city of Kukea. He glared at the man, watching as he talked to her but his sister didn't look like she was listening.

Joey was dressed in a pale green dress shirt and white dress breeches. His stockings were white along with his freshly polished boots. He wore two emerald rings on his fingers, shipped from their neighboring country of Crishan. He fiddled with the one on his right middle finger as he continued to watch the guests.

He looked at his father from the corner of his eye. He glared hatefully at him. _Bastard_, he said in his head, continuing to glare. His father was King Coren IV. He had blonde, red hair and cold green eyes. His hair was combed neatly underneath the golden crown on top of his head. The crown was embedded with emeralds and diamonds that glittered brightly from the torches around them. He was wearing expensive gold robes, pants and boots. He was bedecked in gold rings and opals from Arilea, gifts from the King Gozaburo.

The king of Sekina frowned at the guests. He never really smiled anymore anyway, not since his wife died.

That's why Joey hated him. It was his fault, the drunk. His father was one of the court's biggest drunks. Joey was always embarrassed when he had to sit next to him at dinner. He watched as his father had one, two, twenty glasses of one. It was disgusting.

He remembered one time his father had grabbed him and made him drink almost half of a wine bottle. He could never drink that vile stuff again. He continued to glare and tried to make himself calm down. Soon, this will be all over.

* * *

Serenity watched as people in groups of three approached the throne. They bowed before the king and whispered pleasantries to him. Serenity wasn't watching she was looking at a brown robed figure walking behind the next two groups. She noticed a shock of white hair sticking from the front of the hood.

As she nodded at the next group leaving she watched her brother. He looked tense and his hands were clasped on his wrists, where he kept his secret daggers.

She watched as the hooded figure approached and frowned. This was answer time.

"Welcome to the realm of Sekina. I hope you have a pleasurable stay," her father drawled lazily.

"Coren, its time for you to leave this world," the figure said in a deep voice.

Her father looked shocked before he replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Get out of my sight."

"Coren, I have a message for your children," the figure said, "Prince," he nodded towards Joey, 'and Princess."

The figure had turned towards her and she felt suddenly very vulnerable. "The prophet of the Clan of Elements, many, many years ago went into a trance and said this prophecy. '_The six elements will be born into this world and they must take hold of their powers to take on the dark lord of Chaos and hate. Only these six shall bring peace back to the world, or the earth and universe will be eaten alive.'_"

Serenity and Joey stared at the figure in utter shock. Elements?

The figure walked over to the king who stared dumb founded at the man. The figure pulled out a long knife and seemed to grin at the king, though no one could see his mouth. He stabbed the king through the heart. The king feel to the ground, wine glass shattering on the carpet.


	2. Chapter 2: The Journey to Arilea

**Chapter 2**

_The Journey to Arilea_

The room was silent; there was a loud thud as a woman in a white gown fell to the floor. She had fainted. All eyes were on the throne, where the dead king of Sekina lay on the ground, blood staining his golden garments.

Serenity hands had flown to her mouth in horror. Silent tears ran down her face. As she continued to silently weep she looked at the hooded man (she was sure it was a man considering his voice). She watched in shock as he licked the blade of his knife with a long pink tongue, cleaning the blood off, slowly. She could almost feel his smirk and began to shake violently.

Joey stared at his father on the floor. He noticed that blood was seeping from his body at a fast pace and making it towards him. He kept staring, not knowing what to o. Then, common sense and rage ran through him like when he had put his hand on the stove when he was younger. He pulled out one of his wrist knives and threw the left one at the figure.

The knife sliced through the robe and left a shallow cut on the man's left arm. He noticed the skin was extremely pale, a milky white. The man grabbed his arm and growled in annoyance. That little brat…

He looked up to glare at the blonde but noticed that he was surrounded. Smirking, he said, "Well, Prince Joseph I will be seeing you shortly. Don't fret about that. I can't kill you now, my master's orders but I'll come back," turning to Serenity who stared at him, tears still streaming down her face, he just chuckled darkly then reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of black powder.

Throwing it on the ground, he yelled at pointed at the powder, "IGNITE!"

There was an explosion and Serenity was thrown back against the wall. Hitting it hard, she slumped to the ground. Joey was thrown into two pages and quickly got up and searched franticly for any sign of the murderer. He was gone.

Joey yelled angrily and threw his right dagger at the ground. The dagger was embedded into the marble to the hilt.

* * *

Serenity sat on her bed, brush her auburn locks slowly, her chocolate orbs looked glazed. Her father couldn't be dead. Not again. Serenity's chest hurt. The pain wasn't as near as bad as when her mother died.

When her mother had died, Serenity had felt like her heart might just stop working. Serenity loved her mother. She could still remember what she smelt like: rosemary and mint. Her mother had loved to garden. That's why the courtyard of the palace was so famous. It had an elaborate design with flowers that Serenity couldn't remember. Serenity used to love walking at night with her and chasing the firebugs. She had almost caught one. That was the night before she died.

She had died from a tumor in her brain that had slowly been spreading since she was young. The doctors had said that it was a rare disease only 1 out of every 200 people got it. There was no cure.

After she had died, Serenity had cried for two days in a row, only coming out of her room when she didn't have any tears left. She was deathly pale at the funeral and ran to the gardens before the coffin went into the ground. She was found, muddy and dirty in the rosemary where she was asleep. She had been sick for two days after that. She had worn black for a year after that and didn't leave the castle. That was when she was eleven. After that she was always outside, riding Sierra, gardening and training with the squires.

She wasn't sad now; she had thinking to do.

* * *

Joey paced in his room. What did that man mean, about elements? Joey quickly remembered what he had said.

'_The six elements will be born into this world and they must take hold of their powers to take on the dark lord of Chaos and hate. Only these six can bring peace back to the world, or the earth and the universe will be eaten alive.'_

Elements? The only elements Joey knew about were the six ancient ones that only a chosen few could master. Did he hooded man mean them?

He recited them one by one in his mind. Air. Water. Fire. Earth. Light and Dark. Each of the chosen had one element in them that tied them to Mother Earth. Light and Dark were the first children of the sun and moon. Air and water were under the sun while fire and Earth were with moon. The warriors had challenged the wielder of Chaos and banished him to the underworld where he lay locked in a cage of unbreakable light.

Joey's eyes widened. Had the Chaos lord broken free and found a way to cheat the cage?

Joey thought for a second and wondered, _why did he tell Serenity and me?_ _Unless…_

Joey ran over to his closet and opened it to reveal and large sword. He took it down and almost dropped it. The hilt and handle were pure gold, with silver accenting. He reached for the black sheath and clipped it to his belt. He put his finger on the top of the sword and growled sucked on his finger. It had started to bleed instantly.

He rushed it his clothes closet and began to rapidly pack. He stopped in mid throw. He charged out of the room.

He had to get Serenity.

* * *

Serenity slumped in her saddle. It was around mid-night, two days after her father had died. Serenity was dressed in all black and her horse's hooves were covered in cloth. She patted Sierra sleepily. She was very tired.

They left the castle the night before. She thought about how her brother had charged into her room, breathless. Worried, she ran over and asked what was wrong and he put his hand up, asking her to wait. He explained that it was urgent that they left for the capital of Arilea quickly. He hadn't said anything to her since breakfast, when they ate bread and cheese by the giant oak tree in the middle of the forest.

The oak tree was legend. It was said that no one could hurt each other near this area. The range of protectiveness was 3 miles.

They were almost to the end of the range. Since they hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, they slept during the day and left when Joey could see the stars. Since then, Serenity decided to keep her head down and wait until later for answers. She knew her brother was a little shaken up by their father dying.

* * *

Joey knew he had to tell Serenity why they had to go to capital, Evankay. They had to speak with the King. Though, Sekina hadn't contacted Arilea since the death of their queen, Joey knew Gozaburo would help. His father and the king of Arilea were drinking partners.

Joey knew little about Gozaburo. He knew that they had had a son named Noa for a short time before…the accident. Before his mother died, he found out from one of the guards that they had adopted two new sons to be the heirs. Joey was still puzzled by this. He had never met the new princes.

Turning back, he saw Serenity look away and he sighed. Maybe he should tell her. "Serenity," he said.

She looked up and smiled, "Yes, Joey?"

He smiled back and said, "I think I should tell you why were going to talk to the Arilea king," she nodded, waiting for him to continue, "The reason we are going is because…well…do you remember what that man said, the one that killed father? About the prophecy?"

She nodded and her eyes sharpened. She listened harder. "Well, I have a feeling that that legend… has something to do with us."

She stared at him and nodded. She had felt the same way. "Do you think we-?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we play a part."

"Joey! Look! We've crossed the border!"

He turned to see that she was right. The royal forest had ended and they saw a Fief down the hill. He began riding harder towards it. They needed a rest.


	3. Chapter 3: The Princes of Arilea

**Thank you for the two reviews. I promise that there will be Anzu (I like that name better than Tea) and Atem later on. Atem makes an apperance next chapter and Anzu is introduced in this one.I hope more people will reply!

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**Chapter 3**

_The Princes of Arilea_

When Serenity woke up the next morning, she sat straight up. Remembering that she was at an inn in the Fief at the bottom of the hill. They had reached it just as night was breaking. Serenity had fallen asleep watching the sunrise.

Her back cracked uncomfortably. _That didn't sound so good,_ she thought and started doing backstretches that she had seen knights and their squires doing in the training yards. As more cracks were heard, there was a knock on the door and she stopped to answer it. It was Joey.

"Serenity," he said, "We are invited to the palace, a request from a…Prince Seto. Get dressed nice and fast. It's already noon and we have to be there in one hour."

He turned and left briskly, turning left down the hallway. Serenity rushed to her bag. She had packed a lot of clothing. Wearing a light gown of golden brown she quickly put on a cloak and riding outfit so her dress didn't get dirty.

* * *

Seto glared at the man in front of him. The man, dressed in gray rags caked with mud sat on the dark blue carpet in front of the throne. Sitting in a chair with an extremely high back and golden designs on the edges was an extremely tall young man. Though he was only 18 he gave off an air of being ten years older and twenty times smarter than you were. He had cold, sapphire blue eyes that seemed to pierce your very soul. His chocolate locks were combed neatly but a few strands feel into his pale face. 

Prince Seto was the heir to the Arilea throne, but not directly. As the man on the ground continued to talk he thought about how he had become heir to this kingdom. When he was around ten years old, living in the streets of Evankay, dressed almost like the man before him. The only difference was that Seto had had sandals.

* * *

That fateful day when he was found, was the day he had went out of the empty room he called 'home' to look for another lunch for his brother, Mokuba. As he was walking through the center square he saw a parade and ran back to get his brother. When they came back, Seto realized it wasn't a parade, at least not a happy one. He heard a few grown-ups whispering. The prince of Arilea had died. 

Seto turned and grabbed Mokuba. This wasn't a place for him. As they walked back home, he saw some merchant's sons walking towards a table that was lain out on a square table a few yards from the ceremony. He saw Mokuba run towards, he loved playing Seto. Seto watched him run over and then get pushed into the ground, dust erupting from where he had landed. Running over, he saw one of the boys had pushed his brother down to play the game.

Seto glared up at them. "What did you do that for?"

The boy's ignored him. Who wouldn't? He was just a peasant…

Seto pushed the bigger ones shoulder. "Hey! Why did you do that?" the boy asked.

"Why did you push by brother down?"

"Are you asking for trouble? Do you think you could beat us?"

Seto sized them up. "No, but I can…beat you in chess."

The smaller one chuckled and said, "Face me."

Ten minutes later both boys were beaten. They left, heads ducked and walking very fast. Mokuba hugged Seto. "Thanks big brother."

"You! Boy!"

Seto turned to see a man dressed in fine, red silk from his collar to his stockings. His boots were finely polished black leather and he wore on top of his head, a golden crown with diamonds and opals. "Me?" Seto asked, confused. Was this the…King of Arilea?

"Yes, yes. What is you're name?"

Seto felt like he should say something like, 'I'm sorry for your loss' or something else. Instead he said, "Seto Kaiba."

All peasants had their own last name since they weren't allowed to have titles or to be from a fief or city or you were royalty. "Come with me," the man, the king, said," Oh, bring your brother, too."

* * *

Seto growled in annoyance. Stupid Gozaburo. When he came to the pale he was immediately separated from his brother, during the day he was a page, training to be a knight. At night, he would study until he fell asleep on his books. 

When he had finally become a knight his training continued. Now, though, he had more freedom. Two months ago…well…Gozaburo had finally kicked the bucket.

He had died in the War against the sea warriors of Shekande. An arrow straight through the throat. Seto didn't even shed a tear. He stared coldly at the grave.

Seto returned back to reality and listened to the end of the man's speech. "Prince we need you to…uh…give m-more food to the lower parts of Evankay."

Seto stared at the man. Twenty minutes of speech and all he needed was food? Okay, all they needed to do was ask, and then…maybe he'll help them. He had a kingdom to run. Arilea was the biggest kingdom in the western world, lots of things to work with.

As he opened his mouth to answer the question, one of the servants dressed in white and black came running in. "Sir," he said, "There are people here to see you."

"What kind of people?"

The servant didn't answer as he was leading two people into the room.

* * *

Serenity was waiting with her brother who was nervously shifting from one foot to the other. He had heard stories about the older prince, who they were meeting and didn't like what he heard. Serenity on the other hand, had never heard a thing and wasn't prepared at all. She smiled at the servant who came back to say the prince was ready to see them. 

When she walked through the doors she was first shocked to see how well furnished the room was. Pottery from the west littered the room draperies from the south hung on the walls. Straight ahead of them there was a man sitting in a chair talking with a girl in the servant's uniform of black and blue.

When they approached him, Serenity saw that he was actually younger than he seemed. He sat regally in his chair, staring at them one at a time, first Joey then her. When his gaze turned to her, she felt herself turn slightly pink. He was very handsome, pale skin and eyes of a deep sapphire that blazed. They made her feel like he could read her soul, know all her secrets, just by looking at her. He had chocolate hair trimmed short and she thought he looked about 6'2" in height, making her feel like a dwarf.

"Welcome to Arilea. I am Prince Seto, heir to the throne. May I ask who you are?" the prince, Seto, asked. His voice was deep and cold, making her shiver.

"I am Prince Joseph of Sekina, we come-" began Joey but the other prince cut him off.

"Who are you?" he asked, eyes on Serenity.

Blushing, she curtsied and replied, "Princess Serenity of Sekina, Prince Joseph's sister."

"Prince Seto, where is the King?" Joey inquired.

Seto sighed and held back a smirk, "He died two months ago, in a battle against the Shekande."

"We are sorry for your loss," Serenity said, "We lost our father a few days ago."

"How?"

"He was stabbed by a robed man. He got away," Joey said, then out of the blue, he asked, "Have you heard the legend of Six Elements, o prince?"

Seto thought for a second. Where had he heard that? Six elements…six elements. Gozaburo's face appeared in his mind. Oh.

* * *

Year's back, when Gozaburo was alive, he had overheard him talking in this very room. Seto had been sneaking out of the kitchen with a sweet roll from the kitchen. He was going to split it with Mokuba. They weren't allowed to have dessert anymore (not that they really had it before). When he walked in, he immediately rushed back out. He had seen Gozaburo talking with a boy not much older than he was. The boy had sandy blonde hair and very tan skin. _He must be an ambassador from Typeg_, thought Seto. 

The boy spoke, "My master is becoming concerned, King of Arilea. Where are the elements?"

Gozaburo's voice was sounded strong, but Seto heard a note of panic, "Tell him not to worry. I already have one!"

There was a pause, and then the boy said, "Who is it?"

"A pheasant boy I found on the streets at Noa's funeral."

Another pause. "Which element is he?"

"Dark."

"Excellent. My master sends his regards. My master wants you to know that there is one more in Arilea, two in Sekina, and two in Crishan. Find them."

"Yes, my master, the King of Chaos," Gozaburo said, and bowed before the lavender eyed man.

* * *

A few years later, on his sixteenth birthday, he went to look for the king. When he reached the throne room he saw Gozaburo once again talking with a robed figure. This time, the man had very pale skin and even paler hair. Seto thought that the man must from the far north where people called 'albino's' lived. Seto's theory was crushed when he saw that the man had deep blue-gray eyes. 

"Have you found another element? Master wants to know," said the white haired man.

"Yes. A servant girl from the capital, her name is Anzu."

"Element?"

"Water."

* * *

"Yes I have," said Seto. 

"I believe that my sister and I have something to do with it. We need to find those elements Prince, or we'll die for sure," said Joey.

Seto nodded absently and looked at Serenity, "Are you asking for help?"

"Yes," she replied.

"I'm not sure I can since…well…I _do_ have a country to run…"

Serenity almost gasped. Had he not listened? They were all in danger!

"…but, I'm sure Mokuba can handle things while I'm gone. Puppy prince," Seto said, addressing Joey, "why should I help you?"

Joey growled. Trying to ignore the dog remark, he said through gritted teeth, "If you don't, you're kingdom will be eaten alive by Chaos and it will be your fault."

Seto, glared coldly at the prince of Sekina then said, "Anzu."


	4. Chapter 4: Anzu

**Thank you so much for the three reviews. I hope this chapter goes over well!

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Chapter 4

_Anzu_

The girl Serenity had seen talking with the prince earlier, instantly appeared at his sighed. Dressed in a black skirt that stopped at her knees (a new fashion in the western part of the world) with a frilly, white cotton apron. She had a dark blue shirt on that had a high collar clasped around her neck by a golden pin.

The girl was quite pretty. Pale skin, large, cerulean eyes; her chestnut brown hair was cut to her chin. "Yes, lord," she said, voice musical.

"Anzu, this is Prince Joseph of Sekina," Seto said, Anzu curtsied, "and this is his younger sister, Princess Serenity."

Anzu murmured softly, curtsying again, "A pleasure to meet you Prince and Princess."

Joey nodded curtly at Anzu, eyes still on the Arilea prince. Serenity smiled and curtsied herself. She already liked this girl. Seto spoke again, "Anzu, I am leaving Arilea to accompany these two on a…royal trip. Please tell my brother Mokuba…"

"SETO!"

Serenity turned and searched for the speaker. The doors were thrown open and a boy that looked a little younger than she was, maybe 14 (she herself was only 16). He had elbow-length ebony hair and large gray/violet eyes. He was about 5'8", wearing practice armor over brown shirt and breeches. Serenity noticed that he only had wool socks on and in his hand was a wooden practice sword. "Mokuba," the prince said.

Wait, was that…? Did the prince have affection in his eyes? Who was Mokuba? A friend? "Brother, when did you get back from the south? I thought you were supposed to come next week!" Mokuba said, jogging the distance to the throne where his older brother sat.

Oh. This was the other prince.

"Mokuba," Seto said (Serenity noticed that his voice wasn't that cold when he spoke to Mokuba), "I had some business with the capitol. I had to come back immediately. I thought you were told. I arrived this morning."

Mokuba shook his head, bangs falling into his face, "No one said a word. I missed you."

"I have to go."

"What?"

"This is Prince Joseph of Sekina," Joey and Mokuba traded nods, "and his sister Princess Serenity."

Mokuba took her hand and kissed it, Serenity blushing. "A pleasure," he said.

"Their father, the king of Sekina, has died. Do you remember that legend I told you about when we were little? The six elements?"

Mokuba nodded.

"Remember how I told you I might have something to do with it?"

Mokuba nodded again.

"They say they have something to do with it too, so we're headed to Crishan. It's important that we find those six elements fast. We're leaving in a hour."

"We're what?" Joey said, glaring at Seto.

"But Prince, our things are an hour away!" Serenity cried.

"Don't worry Princess, Anzu will help you with the proper dress. Crishan is only a day and a half's ride from here. You won't need anything else, except maybe a cloak." Seto replied, only glancing at her.

"But…but…!" Joey stuttered.

"Mutt," Seto said, "Your riding clothes are in the hall."

* * *

In an hour's time the five of them (Seto, Joey, Serenity, Mokuba, and Anzu) are standing outside the castle. Mokuba is out of his armor now, standing by the doors talking with his brother. Seto is dressed in a black shirt and black breeches. Black boots finish of the appearance. He wore a dark blue long coat that swept behind him gracefully. 

Joey glared at the man. He didn't like this Prince at all. Something about him…Joey shook his head. The second he had seen Seto he knew he had something to do with the elements. Why did he agree so quickly? Was…was he an element?

_Well_, he thought,_ at least I got new clothes._ He was dressed in a green tunic with golden brown breeches and dark brown boots. He put his hand on the golden sword hilt on his side for reassurance.

Serenity talked with Anzu about Sekina. It seemed that Anzu had never been to another kingdom before, or out of this city for that matter. Serenity hadn't either. She had been stuck in Sekina her whole life. Anzu complimented her and Serenity smiled. "You picked it out," she said.

She wore a light gold gown with silver embroideries long the collar and hem. She liked it a lot. Anzu had good taste. She turned and smiled. The horses had come.

* * *

Anzu bounced on her gray horse's back. Her long black skirt billowed softly in the breeze. The day was winding down. It would be night in an hour. She looked down at her black-gloved hands and then at her bellowing blue shirt sleeves. Her eyes drooped slightly. She was tired. It wasn't every day she got a field assignment with royalty! 

Memories were welling up inside of her, ready to burst. She sighed. She was to tired to fight them today. Like a broken dam, the memories flooded her mind.

* * *

"Mama," said Anzu, tugging on a raggedy skirt, belonging a tall women, her mother. 

"Yes, Anzu," the women said, staring at her daughter with eyes darker then hers.

"Mama, where are we going? We passed the market already!"

"Dear," her mother said slowly, "I'm showing you this little clearing a found for you. A new place for you to live."

"A new home!" Anzu clapped her hands excitedly, "Mother, are you going to live with me?"

"I'll come and visit everyday and I'll tuck you in."

"Why won't you live with me?"

"Here we are," her mother said, pushing back the thrush to reveal a small clearing that was surrounded by wood. Beside it was a wise river with reeds.

"Oh look! A frog!" Anzu shrieked and ran into the reeds.

"Aren't you going to come and see?" Anzu asked, sticking her head out of the bushes.

No one was there.

"Mama? Mama?" Anzu searched the bushes around her new 'home'. "Well, Mama has work to do. She said she'd be back to tuck me in."

Anzu cheerfully turned and went back to the river and sat on stone. She always felt better when water was near. It was Anzu's dream to see the ocean one day. "And I will," she said.

A few hours later, in the dark, Anzu held her rag (blanket) tightly. Where was Mama?

* * *

A few years later, she sat by the stream, fishing. Her clothes were ripped and torn. They didn't really fir her any more. Her long skirt that had dragged as a bride's dress she had once seen now was up to her knees, torn and ripped. Her shirt, which had been baggy, had no sleeves and was two inches above her belly button. 

As she reeled in her fish, she heard rustling and grabbed the sharp stone next to her. She listened to a few minutes of rustling before she saw a man in maroon robes and a golden crown embedded with sapphires and opals on his head.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice cracked. She hadn't talked in a while.

"I am King Gozaburo, young lady. You're coming with me," the man said and she felt herself being lifted of her stone. She turned to see a huge men decked out in a complete set of armor, chain mail and all.

After they had walked for a good half hour she said, "King, where are you taking me?"

Without looking at her he said, "To the castle. We need more…servant girls."

* * *

After that Anzu served the older prince and baby sitted the younger. Two questions still burned in her mind. The first one was why did King Gozaburo go to all that trouble just to get _her_ as a servant girl. She knew girls in Evankay that would die just to serve his royal highness. She turned her head and looked back. 

While she was riding next to Lady Serenity (who continued to tell her just to call her Serenity) the men, Prince Joseph and Prince Seto, rode side-by-side. The Sekina Prince was secretly glaring at her prince while Prince Seto was looking at her and Serenity. He turned his eyes to her and she quickly turned back.

She still didn't know why those girls wanted to serve a human icicle.

The other question almost made her burst into tears when she thought about it was…why did her mother…abandon her? Had she done something wrong? Maybe she was taking up to much room in their flat. Had she been eating too much?

Whatever the reason was, she just hoped she would figure it out so it would stop bugging her.

Serenity yawned, hand flying to her face in embarrassment. They stopped. The girls turned to the boys. Seto's eyes watched Serenity yawn again. "Maybe we should-"he started.

"-Turn in?" Joey finished. He glared at Seto who returned it with twice the loath. He turned to Anzu and she nodded in approval. Serenity smiled.

"I think there's a tavern that has rooms we could use for the night," Anzu said, "If that's okay with you my lord."

"Fine," he said.

Urging her horse forward she lead the way to tavern.

* * *

Hope you guys like it! Read and Review!

-Em

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	5. Chapter 5: Crishan

**Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews! I appreciate it so much. That's what's kind of keeping me going. I hope you like this chapter. Another character is introduced. Read and Review! Enjoy!

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Chapter 5

_Crishan_

"Anzu? Little Anzu?" the bartender said, rubbing his coal black eyes with meaty arms.

"Yes, It's me!" Anzu said, smiling.

The last time she had been at the Sapphire Knife was three weeks before her mother had left her. This was at the very end of Evankay where travelers rested for the night. Her mother had been friends with Old Jack. Her mother went monthly after Anzu's father left (when Anzu was 6) for reason's unknown.

"Look at you! All grown up! I heard you're…mother abandoned you," Old Jack said solemnly.

"Oh…yes…she did. It was a few weeks after my last visit. Do you…know why?" Anzu inquired.

"No, you're mother stopped visiting after another visit. She told be she abandon you and left. She died s year after," Old Jack replied, head bowed.

"How?" Anzu said. Surprisingly, she wasn't crying after hearing about her mother's death.

"Hung herself in the well down the road. But," Old Jack lifted his head, "Are these your friends, lass?"

Remembering that royalty was behind her she turned to the three behind her who had been listening. They had changed into simple clothing, the men brown tunics and patched breeches; Serenity wore a simple dress of light pink cotton. "These are my friends," she looked up and saw Serenity and Joey smiling at her, "Joey," Joey shook hands with Jack, "Serenity," Serenity nodded her head, "and Seto."

Jack nodded his head and said, "They look like a nice group, Anzu. Now, what do ye what at the ol' Sapphire Knife?"

"Two rooms and food. Where's all your drinkers?" Anzu asked. The bar was almost empty.

"It's only 7, dearie, they won't be hear for another few minutes. Now, Ella here," Jack pointed to a blonde girl washing a glass, "Will bring you to your rooms."

The four of them followed the girl into the hallway and turned left. The rooms were across the hall from one another. The boys had the room to the right (Joey almost screamed in annoyance. Why did it have to be him?) and the girls had the left.

* * *

"Whatever you got," Seto said to the red headed girl who waited on him.

When she left he rubbed his temple. Only half a day back from the south and already he was on another trip. He wished he could bring Mokuba with him but he knew it was a stupid idea. He knew from the legend that there was a battle ahead for the elements. He also knew he was probably one of them.

He just really didn't want to admit it. What were the six elements again? Oh yes. Dark, Water, Earth, Wind, Fire and Light. Remembering what Gozaburo had said about him 'finding' two already, he wondered how he knew.

When Seto had lived in his run down room with Mokuba he had learned from fellow street rats like Leech and Snake (most street gangs were named after an animal that represented themselves) that Noa, Gozaburo's son, had been a novice in magic. Gozaburo didn't have a drop of magic in him, Noa had gotten magic from his mother.

He had known rats that had magic. Lemur could disappear when he snapped his fingers. His friend, Tiger, knew how to heal. She had been sent to the castle after she told the boss (the leader of their gang) she could. When Seto had moved to the castle he was trained to be a knight and got cut several times. He met Tiger again when she healed him. Her name now was Amber Firstflame.

Seto knew no magic. He was jealous of people who could. He always wanted t learn how but people told him you needed at least a drop of magic to learn how to use it.

So why did Gozaburo think he could be an element when he had no knowledge of magic? He had read that they had unmatchable magical spells. They could make their weapons appear instantly with a single call.

Seto turned to see Anzu talking with that bartender, Old Jack. He had asked her if she could do any magic after she was assigned to help his brother. She had laughed and said no. She had always wanted to but her family didn't have any magic. Was she really the water element? She couldn't be if she didn't have any magic.

So Gozaburo was wrong. That was fine with him. _Then_, he thought, _why am I on this weird 'quest' with those three? Maybe he was right._

* * *

Serenity sat at the bar, asking Ella if they had any tea. Serenity didn't want any alcohol; she thought it was disgusting. As she sat on the wooden stool she felt someone poke her back. Thinking it was Joey she turned and smiled, then gulped. That wasn't Joey.

A tall man with long black hair and storm cloud gray eyes smiled down at her. Serenity did not like that smirk. "Hey there, lass. What is your name?" he said. Serenity thought he looked…hungry.

Being naïve, she ignored the look of 'hunger' and said, "Serenity, sir. Who might you be?"

"Gary of Belinkar. Do you want me to get you a drink?" the man said, smile growing.

"No sir. I already have one." Thinking the conversation over, she turned back to watch Ella finish making her tea. Someone grabbed her shoulder and she felt a body behind her.

"Don't turn from me wench! You're coming with ol' Gary," Gary whispered into her ear. Serenity shivered.

Gary turned and came face to face (well, not really) with Prince Seto. Not knowing that the heir to the countries throne was right in front of him he tried to shove past the taller man. "Move, you bastard! This has nothing to do with you!" Gary said, angrily.

"I think it does," was the cool reply.

The next moment was a blur to Serenity. There was a whoosh and then a crash. She found herself in the prince's arms, her face in his chest. Turning to see what had become of the man, she saw his black head underneath two tables and six glasses of ale, plus a few game chips and cards.

She turned again and looked up at the prince. She realized he had already let go. "Thank you," she said breathlessly.

The man simply shrugged and returned to his table where Anzu know sat. When Serenity came over Anzu got up and said, "Lady, are you alright? I think it's time to turn in."

Serenity nodded and said to Anzu, "Please Anzu, call me Serenity!"

* * *

"Serenity how much longer?" Joey whined.

"Ask Anzu," Serenity croaked. She was really tired; they had been riding all day.

"Anzu," Joey whined, "How much longer?"

Anzu sighed. "Two more hours."

"WHAT!"

"Mutt. I told you before we left that it was a day and a half away to Crishan. That's just getting to the border. We have half a day's ride to the capital Oraic, where the King Sef and Queen Kamilah live in the famed 'white' castle," said Seto, staring straight ahead.

* * *

Prince Yami stared at his instructor who was trying to show him how to make a blinding flash of light illuminate or perhaps blind a foe in darkness. Not that Yami didn't already know how to perform such a spell. He just wanted to humor his instructor.

His instructor, Li Koori, had been (trying) teaching the boy ever since he was 6 years old. Now, at 18, Yami knew most of the spells that was taught to him. When he was younger, he used to sneak into the mage library on the first floor, left of the entrance hall. He practiced spells in the dead of night, cloaked in invisible charms that Li told him not to use since they were too complex.

They weren't really. All you had to do was pretend your putting something skin tight all over your body then say, ELBISIVNI. Complex. Right.

Yami tried to hold back a yawn. Being a mage was nice and everything, though sometimes (okay, most of the time) he wished he could be a knight like his friends. Yami was the only mage he knew in Oraic that was his age (18).

Every night Yami went down to the practice courts and practiced different weaponry. He had tried bow staff (knocked himself silly), sword (almost cut his finger off), broad sword (almost cut his head off, bow and arrows (accidentally shoot his mother's eye in a tapestry) and others. He finally decided that he liked holding two short swords in each hand.

He learned to twirl and twist with them in the middle of the night. He could fight with both hands. He even learned how to spell the weapons with magic. He could make them invisible (which was quite handy), create light (that was complicated), and could create a blinding flash.

"Are you listening, prince?" Li asked sharply.

""Yes."

"Then perform the spell."

Yami sighed and pushed back the sleeves of his red robe. Red was the second highest level a mage could get. On the hem of the robe was orange, meaning Yami only had two more stripes to get before becoming a white with black stripe robe. Yami knew he should have been a white robe months ago but he didn't want to. He liked the practice.

Yami lifted his hands in the air and looked up, violet/magenta eyes staring at the ceiling. Twirling his hands in slow circles, he watched as his violet magic followed his fingers, fading quickly. Standing straight again, he drew a circle with four points. It disappeared and Yami said, "Thgil!"

Light engulfed the room. Yami watched Li shield his eyes. Yami's blonde bangs fell into his face. Like most spells, it just was a word people used normally said backwards. Simplicity.

"Well done. You may become a full red robe tomorrow," Koori said quickly, eyes smarting.

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"Joey, be quiet," said Serenity.

"Are we there yet?"

"Shut up, Mutt," Growled Seto, temper on the rise.

"Are we there _yet_?"

"Yes!" Anzu cried happily.

Yes, they had finally made it to Crishan and to its capitol, Oraic. As they rode to the silver palace gates two guards approached them, holding spears. "Who are ye?" the left one asked, gruffly.

Seto nudged his horse so he was I front of the guards. "This is Prince Joseph of Sekina," their eyes widened, Seto continued, "Princess Serenity of Sekina," the guards bowed quickly, "and Lady Anzu."

When they finished bowing the right guard asked, "Who are you? Their clerk?"

Seto simply chuckled darkly, sending the guards into cold shivers. "Me?" he asked, "I am the Prince of Arilea, Seto."

The guards shivered again. The Prince they called frozen, glacier, ice cold. They had called him a clerk. They bowed hastily. "Will you please let us see your king and queen? We have urgent business," Serenity said.

"Yes Princess," the right guards said and yelled for the man on a wooden tower to open the doors.

The four rode into the capitol, leaving the guards in the dust. A few seconds passed, then the left clerk punched the other (it didn't do much), and said, "I can't believe ye called 'im a clerk. The ice prince!"

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**Hope you liked it! Chapter 6 coming soon.**

**Em**


	6. Chapter 6: Meeting the Mage Prince

**Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the review! Their all awesome! By the way, have any of you heard of this new Yu-GI-Oh! GX? It looks really cool! Anyway, please enjoy Chapter 6. Read and enjoy!

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Chapter 6

_Meeting the Mage Prince_

Joey quickly got off his horse and shook out the plain clothes he wore. They needed to change quickly before they were introduced to the king and queen of Crishan. He turned and saw Serenity was having trouble getting off her horse and went over to help.

While he helped her down, he tried to remember what he knew about Crishan. When he was a squire, he had visited Crishan with his knight master. The knight, Sir Richard, had gone to see his friend Sir Christopher. While they visited, he listened to the talk about the castle. The 'angelic' castle was home to the King Sef and his beautiful wife Queen Kamilah. He learned that they had a son, about his age, that was a mage.

Joey had never met a mage in person before. He wasn't gifted in magic, neither was Serenity. He had seen the boy novice's in black, running around with orders from their teachers. In his whole life, Joey had only seen one white robed mage. His name was Master Razorleaf. Razorleaf had dark green magic. Once Mages got to master level, they were aloud to pick their own last names and were still considered higher than most.

Anyway, he never learned the prince's name, only that, at the age of 16, the boy was already an orange robe with a white stripe. Joey turned out of the stable, noticing that he was the last one to leave. He had to hurry up. He was expected.

* * *

"Visitors, Tristan?" a women asked, voice gentle. 

"Yes Majesty. They arrived about an hour ago. They are here now. Should I let them in?" Tristan asked. Tristan was an official guard to the queen.

"Yes. Don't announce them."

As Tristan left, the queen sighed and watched the doors, violet eyes sharpened. The Queen Kamilah was in fact, very beautiful. She had large violet eyes and long black hair. Her crow shone proudly on her head. It was silver with rubies and amethysts. She wore an elegant gown made of satin that was dark violet. She heard the door open and stood up to greet her guests.

Four people walked in, not counting Tristan. There were two females and two males. The first female had her head bowed so Kamilah couldn't see her face. She was dressed in a dark sapphire dress with silver lace on the cuffs and hem. The other girl was shorter by about two inches and her head was held eyes. She made eye contact with the queen and she had honey brown eyes and fiery auburn tresses. A light pink dress with a golden trim was her attire.

The boy directly behind the red head was a tall man with messy blond hair and cocoa brown eyes. Dressed in a brown shirt and dark green breeches and white stocking covered by brown boots. The man behind the brunette also had brunette hair (maybe darker). He had an icy glare that made her look away before she could analyze him.

They stopped two yards away from her and bowed (the girls curtsied). She nodded her head. She spoke first, "Welcome to Crishan. I am Queen Kamilah. Who might are you, young ones?"

The red head spoke. "I am Princess Serenity of Sekina."

Kamilah was shocked. Crishan's neighboring royalty here? The princess continued, "This is my older brother Prince Joseph."

The blonde smiled and bowed. "This is Prince Seto of Arilea."

Kamilah almost gasped. Two royal families! The other man nodded at her, frowning. "And my friend, Lady Anzu of Evankay."

The brunette curtsied and looked up, cerulean orbs looked with the queens.

"Welcome! Welcome!" The Queen exclaimed, "It has been a long time since Crishan has seen its neighbors. Tell me, how are your families."

There was a pause then Joey spoke up. "Queen Kamilah, it has been several years since our countries have contacted each other. That last time I saw all of us together was at my mother's funeral. Last week our father," he nodded towards Serenity, "was stabbed by a robe man,"

The Queen gasped. Coren was dead? How could this be?

"Who was this man?" she asked.

"We have no idea, Queen Kamilah. Before he left it recited a prophecy to us. The Six elements prophecy," Joey saw the Queen freeze, "Have you heard of it?"

She nodded solemnly.

"Before you continue Prince of Sekina," the Queen said, "I would like to know why you have the Arilean Prince here."

"I," Seto said coldly, "was asked a few days back to help these two. We all have something in common. We have something to do with this prophecy. Oh, and my step-father died a few months ago if you were wondering."

"Wouldn't that make you King?" Tristan questioned.

Seto turned. He hadn't even noticed the boy. Tristan was Joey's height with dark brown hair in a strange style. He wore the royal uniform of red and amethyst. "No," Seto sneered, "I need a wife to become King, as does the mu- I mean Prince Joseph."

"Why did you come here?" the Queen questioned.

"We need help," Anzu said, speaking for the first time.

"How can I help you?"

"Mother!"

The four turned to see a boy only an inch taller than Anzu. He seemed a bit taller because he had the strangest hair any of them had seen before. It was like a star. It had magenta on the edges and had five streaks of blonde. The rest was black. His blonde bangs framed sharp violet orbs, which regarding the four in confusion.

"My son. These are the princes and princess of Arilea and Sekina. From Sekina Serenity and Joseph. From Arilea Seto. Their friend here," the Queen said nodding towards Anzu, "is Lady Anzu of Evankay. Friends, this is Prince Yami."

* * *

Serenity listened to the Queen tell this boy their names. He turned to them in turn bowing with his head down. When Anzu was called she could have sworn she saw a faint blush. She smiled. Anzu was red as well. _Hm…_ Serenity thought, _I wonder…_

When the introductions were over Serenity watched Yami walk up towards the Queen. She saw he was dressed in a long red robe with an orange stripe on the hem. Was this boy a mage? Yami turned towards them, "It is very nice to meet you all. Mother why are they here?"

Serenity watched the Queen as she answered. She looked sterner now; the laughter was gone from her eyes. "Son," she said, "They come to us with terrible news."

Retelling the deaths of the Kings, Serenity watched Yami's face fall. "I'm sorry for your losses," he said sincerely. He didn't know what life would be like with out his father.

"They also come with a quest."

Yami's eyes flickered with interest. "A quest?" Yami asked.

"They are looking for the six elements."

When she said these words images flashed through Yami's mind. A stone written in a language that had died thousands of years before; six people surrounded by different color auras; a tall figure above that reeked of evil…Yami shook his head. What did all this mean?

"From the legend?"

"Yes and Yami…" the Queen faltered.

"Mother?"

The Queen stared at her only child. It was inevitable. "You must go with them," she said and then choked on her held back tears.

Yami stared at his mother. Why? Why did he have to help them? "Why?" he asked, not noticing that his voice was a mere whisper.

The Queen smiled weakly. "Because," she said, "You are one of them."

No one spoke. Serenity stared at the boy in wonder and amazement. They had found one.

* * *

"Yami, where are we going?" Joey asked. 

For the past few hours, Joey had been getting acquainted with the prince and now was allowed to call him Yami (Yami could Joey, Joey, also). He learned that the Prince was his age and was almost a white robe; only one more stripe. Yami turned to look at Joey who rode next to him.

"My mother said that we will reach an inn before the rain starts. She said it was a few hours ride from the castle," Yami said.

He turned around in his saddle to look at the three behind them. Seto was behind the girls, looking as though he was thinking very hard about something. When they made eye contact he tried not to look away, but had to. He watched as Serenity talked to the other girl, Anzu. It must have been a joke or something funny because the brunette started giggling like crazy.

He decided he liked her laugh. It wasn't loud like those idiots at the castle, laughing at things that really weren't funny. It wasn't quiet either like his mother's ladies in waiting. It was perfect.

"Yami, what is the inn's name?" Joey asked.

"Top of the Mountain."

"I think we found it." Joey pointed towards a wooden building in front of them. The lights were on shone through the windows, casting a warm glow.

As they reached the door, Serenity felt a drop on her shoulder. Looking skyward she felt another plop on her forehead, then another and another, and another. "It's raining," Joey said.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Mutt," Seto said.

The five tied their horses up quickly and ran into the inn.

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**Thanks for reading! Chapter 7 coming soon! Please read and Review.**

**-Em**


	7. Chapter 7: The Gangs All Here

**Thank you so much for the reviews. This is probably my shortest chapter. I ran out of ideas. I've been really busy lately. Also, I won't be able to post a chapter next week. I'm away at camp until Thursday. I might have a chapter up the Monday after that. Thanks, here's Chapter 7.

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Chapter 7

The Gangs All Here

Joey quickly pulled off his wet cloak and, to his surprise, was immediately taken away by the man standing by the front doors. He watched as he took the others cloaks the second they were off their shoulders, to their bewilderment. _He's quick for a little guy_, Joey thought.

"Thank you!" Serenity called politely after him. The man only turned and nodded. He would have waved but, Joey noticed this, you could barely see his feet he was holding so many cloaks.

Joey turned to look around the entrance. It was better kept than Old Jack's. The inn was more like a two inns. The bar was to his left. He watched a black haired man laugh at a something one of the drinkers had said. Looking in the other direction he saw a few empty chairs before a large fireplace that glimmered warmly and invitingly.

Anzu sat down in the middle of the chairs. She smiled as Yami sat down next to her and engaged her in conversation. Joey watched Seto walk to the bar and ask the black haired man for a drink. He turned around and saw Serenity still behind him. He smiled warmly at her. She smiled back and pointed for him to look around again. Turning he almost jumped. There was a pair of sharp grape colored eyes right up in his face.

Stepping back, Joey tried extremely hard not to let his mouth hang up in shock. A woman the exact same height as him was standing with her hands on her hips looking at him. She had long, wavy blonde hair and pale skin. She had red rose lips and wore white shirt, silk breeches, stockings and dress boots. She smiled at him and said something.

"Sorry, missed that," he said to the girl.

"Welcome to the Top of the Mountain Inn. I am the owner of this place. My name is Mai," she said sticking out her hand.

After being in court so long he bending down to kiss her hand. Before he could complete the task she snatched her hand away, making Joey straighten up, looking confused. She stuck her hand out again and said, "No need for that. A shake will do. Mr.?" She asked, raising an eyebrow gracefully.

He took her hand firmly and shook, "Joey of Sekina."

"Why have you come so far? Where in Sekina are you from?"

Joey replied, "The capitol, Vocara. We have business here."

He nodded to Serenity then showed Mai who Yami, Anzu and Seto were. "Well, you're all welcome here, DUKE!" Mai said loudly.

The black haired man at the bar looked up and put a glass down before walking over quickly. "Yeah Mai?" Duke asked, slightly irritated. He was just flirting with a girl down the road.

"He's a Duke?" Serenity asked.

"No hon, that's just his name. He's a friend of mine," Mai said, "Duke, get drinks for those two over there, "she pointed towards Yami and Anzu who were sill talking, "and these two."

Duke nodded towards Joey and winked at Serenity before leaving. "I'm going to sit with Yami and Anzu, okay Joey?" serenity asked, already walking towards them.

"Sure," Joey said, and then turned to talk with Mai again.

He was shocked to see she was already on the other side of the room talking with some girls. He sighed happily. Maybe that wish for adventure was going to come true?

* * *

Serenity sighed in content. _This inn is very nice and so_, Serenity thought, trying not to snicker, _was the owner_. She knew her brother liked her.

Serenity knew that the king had been looking for a girl for Joey since Joey turned sixteen. She had watched her brother twirl ladies in pretty dresses and lovely names around the ballroom. He always stared into space while they blabbed on about things mindlessly.

It was good that he finally found someone. She sighed again, this time in frustration. She wished _she _liked someone. She turned pink. Well, there could be someone…

She paused. Why wasn't there any noise? Why was it so quiet? She turned to see that it was just Joey, Mai, that man named Duke, Yami, Anzu, Seto and herself in the room. _Strange…_ she thought; then gasped.

The lights had gone out. Serenity almost shrieked. What was going on? And then Serenity saw it. A pale white glow was coming from the center of the room.

She watched it grow steadily. A few moments later, the light seemed to shape…a body. A girl floated in the center of the room.

She was beautiful in an eerie sort of way. She was very tall, with pale white skin that glowed, lighting up the room in white. Her hair, which was white, was down to her ankles and seemed to blow behind her as if there was a breeze. Her outfit consisted off a gold dress that clung to her skin. Her sleeves drew the eyes to elegant hands and golden colored nails. She was barefoot.

Her eyes were beautiful. They were a rich golden color. The girl spoke, "Elements, it is very nice to see you again."

Serenity could only watch in awe. "Of course," the woman continued, "I haven't seen you in many, many years. Do you remember who am?"

The six shook their heads in unison. Duke, who had been talking with Yami, decided that this had nothing to do with him; He sat underneath the counter and listened to the conversation. "My friends," the women said, "I am Fatima. I am the daughter of the prophet."

Serenity eyes widened. The prophet that that man had spoken of? The prophet for the Clan of Elements? "Friends, I am here to help. I am here to give you your magic so peace will befall this Earth once again. Prince Joseph of Sekina?" Fatima asked and turned so she faced Joey.

Joey felt the need to bow. "Yes?" he asked quietly.

Fatima smiled at him, "You are blessed with Earth. Mai of Crishan?" She cocked her head towards Mai, "You are gifted in Air. Wind."

Mai's eyes widened. She had no idea what this woman, Fatima, was talking about. Fatima turned to the left where Yami and Anzu stood. "Prince Yami of Crishan?" Fatima said, "You are fire, and Anzu of Arilea, you are water."

Yami and Anzu looked puzzled but weren't as clueless as Mai was. "Prince Seto of Arilea," Fatima said, "You are Night. Dark."

Fatima bowed her head respectfully at Seto who only frowned. This wasn't a surprise. "And Princess Serenity of Sekina," Fatima said, golden eyes smiling down at her, "You, dear child, are Light."

Serenity held back a gasp. She knew she was _involved_ with this elements thing. That didn't mean she was _one_ of them!

"Chosen ones, I ask you, no," Fatima said, "The world asks you to stop the madness that will unfold. You must save us, you're the Earth's, the universe's only hope."

Serenity kept listening. "You're powers haven't shone themselves yet, but in time they will. That is why you must complete this task first. I need you to find the six stones that will help you one your journey. When the final one is found, I will come and find you. Until then, this is good bye!" Fatima disappeared in a blinding flash.

The flash lasted a few minutes passed and during it images flashed through Serenity's mind. First a bog, than a mountain, an ocean, a volcano, a cave, and then an ice path. Serenity shook her head and looked around the room. Joey had a look of determination on his face, Mai looked very confused, Yami was whispering with Anzu and Seto had his arms crossed and had a smirk on his face.

Seto was the last person she saw before green fog wrapped around her.

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**Thanks for readng. Please review!**

**-Em**


	8. Chapter 8: Earthquake

**Thank you so much for the reviews! A GIGANTIC cookie to the person who guessed correctly about the elements (sorry, I don't think i can say anything directly to you)! Here is the lastest installment of the Circle of Six!

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Chapter 8

_Earthquake_

The first thought that ran through Yami's head was _Where am I_? The next thought was _Where's Anzu_?

Yami started to move his arms to help get him self up. His eyes shot open. He couldn't move his arms. He tried to move his legs; not even a wiggle. Yami turned to his left. The girl, Mai, was next to him unconscious. He turned to his right. "ANZU!" he yelled.

Anzu groaned softly and her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes widened. She turned to him. "Yami! Are you stuck too?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. He had no idea was incasing them. It was white had very sticky. It was also extremely tight…

"Oh god…" said a voice to their left. It wasn't Mai. It was Serenity next to her.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god!" Serenity kept saying.

"Serenity? Serenity? Do you know what this is?" Anzu asked, voice calm.

Serenity began shivering. "It's…It's…!" Serenity stuttered, shaking harder.

"It's a web," said Seto, who was next to Serenity.

"A web?" Yami asked, "You mean a…?"

"YES! YES! A SPIDER WEB!" Serenity shrieked and began thrashing in her webbing.

Anzu shivered. A spider web? How could there be a spider this big? Yami was wondering the same thing. Then Seto said, "Hey, where's the mutt?"

Serenity stopped thrashing. She seemed frozen. "Joey?"

Mai woke up. She looked left. Right, then down at her web cocoon. She said to no one in particular, "So, we're doomed."

* * *

Joey ran through the trees, slashing out with his sword if anything was to close. He was breathing heavily. He had been running for at least a half hour. He had to find Serenity and he had to find Mai. 

He kept running, slashing out every once in a while. He had to find them fast. They could be anywhere in this jungle! He heard a twig crack a few passes behind him and sped up. He turned left, and then right, then went straight, and then turned left again.

He had no idea where he was going. He just was following instinct. He heard a rustle behind him, then another twig cracking. He ran into a clearing.

It was empty.

Yelling in frustration, he jammed his sword into the ground. He fell to the ground. "Serenity…Mai…" he whispered.

He promised Serenity that he wouldn't let anything happen to her and Mai…?

He really liked Mai. A lot. He had only known her for a few hours, but he felt like she had been in Sekina with him his whole life. She was funny, and smart, stubborn, and a ton of other things. He had to find them!

What about Yami? What about Anzu? What about Seto? As much as he disliked that man, he would still feel better if her found him.

He heard another crunching noise. He turned around.

A tiger stood before him, fangs gleaming in the fading daylight. Its orange fur striped in black was a magnificent color. Its huge paws were white and… it wasn't jumping on him.

* * *

"I wonder where Joey is?" Anzu asked quietly. 

"He's coming. I know he is," Serenity said.

Yami and Anzu nodded. They knew their friend was coming, too. Mai smiled at her softly, then asked, "So you're a princess?"

Serenity was surprised. "Yeah, Joey is a Prince. He's the heir to the Sekina throne," she said.

Mai nodded and looked at Seto. "And you are a prince, tall boy?"

Seto glared at her. "Yes. I am Prince Seto of Arilea," he said coldly.

Mai shivered. The ice prince, huh? She turned to Yami, "You're my prince?"

Yami half smiled and said, "Yes, I am the Crishan prince."

"I would curtsy sir-"

"No need. Are we friends?" he asked. When Mai nodded he said, "Then call me Yami. I prefer it. No formalities please."

"Same here," chorused Serenity and Seto.

Mai nodded," Okay. Anzu, you're not royalty?"

Anzu smiled and shook her head, "I'm a maid in the Arilean Kingdom."

There was some polite conversation after that, then Mai smirked, "Well, it can't get any worse then this!"

"It just did," Seto said. A tree crashed to the ground a mile ahead of their web.

* * *

The tiger stared at Joey with its amber eyes. The tiger's eyes shone with an eerie intelligence. Its tail flicked back and forth. 

Joey watched it. He had never seen a real tiger in his life. He had heard the tales of them. Their huge paws, grace a human wished for, eyes that glowed in the dark like burning lamps. The big cat stepped forward.

Joey pulled his sword out of the ground and placed it before him.

The tiger stared at the weapon and then growled.

The sword began shifting. Joey yelped and dropped it. The sword had become a stick. The cat moved closer. _I'm here to help_.

Joey's eyes widened. Who was talking? The tiger leaped at him. Joey braced himself for the claws, the teeth wrapping around his neck…

The tiger leapt into him and disappeared within him. Joey felt a rush of white-hot energy surge through his veins and then he heard a scream.

"SERENITY I'M COMING!" Joey yelled and headed into the direction of the scream.

"AAUUGH!" screamed Serenity.

No once yelled at her to stop screaming. They were screaming to loud in their minds to hear her.

Serenity had a good reason to be screaming her brains out. They had watch trees continue to fall; the thing causes it coming closer and closer. The thing had finally appeared.

It was probably the ugliest thing Serenity had ever seen in her life. It had rugged, red hair on its body; eight huge legs that had so much power had crushed a step into dust when it had stepped on it. It's six, blood red eyes looked at them hungrily. It continued to come closer.

Serenity had stopped screaming. She was too scared to do that. The spider continued to come closer. Then, it turned it's body towards the body furthest to the right (Anzu's) and made it's way to her.

Anzu eyes bulged. It was coming to her! It was going to eat her. She began to wiggle vigorously in a desperate attempt to escape her bonds. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shrieked.

The spider came closer until it was right in front of her. It began make clicking noises and its eyes seemed to grow even hungrier. "ANZU!" Yami cried and tried to wiggle himself free.

As the jaws descended on Anzu a voice yelled, "Hey ugly! Your foods down here!"

The spider turned and saw Joey standing in front off him, lazily tossing a rock into the air. The spider growled and lunged. Joey threw rock.

The rock sliced though the right eyes; half blinded it. It shrieked and charged. Joey lazily. Lazily put his left arm out gripped the air and pushed it towards the spider. Serenity was confused what was her brother doing. Then she saw it; a huge boulder flying straight at the spider.

Being half blind the spider didn't see it come. It ran straight into it and landed on its back. Joey looked like he was lifting something. The rock rose into the air. Joey pulled his hands down. The rock fell…and smashed the spider.

Joey smiled up at them. "Hey guys! Need help?"

"Joey!" Serenity said.

Joey picked up a large rock and held it in his left hand; with his right he seemed to be shaping something. He threw it up into the air. It slowly began cutting through the web. When they all had fallen down Anzu shrieked happily and clapped. "We're free!" she said and wrapped her arms around Yami.

Yami stood stunned. Anzu realized what she was doing and pulled away blushing and turned to see Mai run towards Joey hugging him and telling him he was a bloody idiot but an amazing bloody idiot.

Serenity smiled at her brother accepting Mai's embrace and then smiled up at Seto. "Joey! Look!" Mai said, pointing behind him.

He turned to see a large rock wall behind him. It was covered in ivy and flowers he couldn't name. In the center the ivy parted to reveal a pedestal. On the pedestal sat a green stone flecked with brown. He walked over and reached for it.

When he gripped it he only saw roaring emeralds and brown. It stopped and turned. "I think we have the first stone!" he said.

Before any one could cheer a fog wrapped around them. It danced with purple sparks. When it disappeared they were gone with it.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Please review!**

**-Em**


	9. Chapter 9: Fly Like An Eagle

**Welcome one and all to Chapter 9 of this story. Thank you so much for the reviews. You are all so very kind. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Please Review.

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**

Chapter 9

_Fly Like an Eagle_

Seto growled in annoyance. Stupid Mountain. Stupid quest. Stupid elements. He seriously didn't like anything at the moment. He shivered. He especially didn't like this mountain.

He had woken up under a tree in a peaceful valley a few hours ago. He had turned to see the others sprawled on the ground next to him. He groaned. His back _hurt_. Seto's groan had awoken Mai who was lying a few feet away next to the mutt. She groaned herself, rubbing herself and then sneezed out purple sparks.

Purple sparks.

Seto hadn't said anything. When she had sneezed again no sparks came out so he decided it was just the fault of him appearing in a totally different place.

A couple of minutes after finally Anzu came to (much to Yami's relief), there had been a clap of thunder that made the ground quake. Seto had turned to yell at the mutt since he was blessed with the earth-based magic and instead of just seeing Joey, he saw that freaky sprit girl. What was her name again?

"Hello, Fatima!" Serenity said cheerfully.

Oh yeah, the prophet's daughter.

"I thought we weren't supposed to see you again until we had all the stones!" exclaimed Anzu.

Fatima smiled. "That is true, I did say that. I just came to make the journey a little easier," she said, turning to Joey.

"Earth element. In your last journey in the forbidden jungle, you meet a strange fellow didn't you?" Fatima asked, although she already knew the answer.

Joey thought. He had met someone? When? Was it…was it that tiger? "The tiger?" he asked.

Fatima nodded. "Yes. That is your sprit; your guide. He will teach you how to use your power. Now, where is your stone?"

Joey started rummaging in his cloak pockets. Where did he put it? He then slapped his forehead, leaving a red mark, and took off his boot and shook it. The emerald dropped to the grass with a soft plop. "Nitesh's stone, come to me," Fatima said.

The emerald rose into the air and floated to Fatima, plopping into her hand She rubbed in thoughtfully for a second before talking again. "I will hold in to this until the rest of the stones are found."

Joey nodded and before any of them could blink, Fatima vanished. "You will find the next stone embedded in a tree near the middle of the mountain," a voice, Fatima's, whispered in the wind, "Good luck."

* * *

They had left almost immediately after that. The wind had been increasing gradually every mile or so. That's why he was shivering. It was a blistering wind now. He looked at the front of the line. It was lead by Joey and Mai, who were in deep conversation; then Serenity walking behind, shivering as he was; then Yami and Anzu talking as well. He was last. 

He stopped walking.

He could have sworn he heard…was that…wings? He turned slowly around…and wished he hadn't.

_That_, he thought,_ is not real._

The bird was in fact not a bird at all. It was really a strange animal like thing with wings. It had the head of lion, talons (large talons) like a bird, and the body of a huge serpent. It threw its head back and roared. It then flapped its huge wings (that were like a bats) and flew right at Seto.

"Seto, get down!"

He felt himself being pushed to the ground hard and felt a rush of air. He bit his tongue to stop from yelling. A screech tore the air. "Help!"

Seto turned. Serenity was in the things talons, screaming and hitting the things claws. She screamed again, "HELP! JOEY!"

Seto looked over at Joey who had his fists clenched tightly in front of him. He yelled in frustration. "WHY WON'T IT WORK? MY POWERS AREN'T WORKING!"

"ANZU, LOOK OUT!" Serenity yelled.

The creature flew towards Anzu and picked her up as well. Anzu cried, "YAMI!"

Yami growled and took out his dagger. Preparing to throw, he got into the stance. One, two, huh?

His dagger was…melting.

Yami yelped and dropped the twisting metal, where it withered into mush on the ground. "JOEY!" Mai screamed.

Joey was in the claws next to Serenity. "SETO HELP!" Serenity shrieked.

Yami was next, next to Anzu that is. Seto threw a rock at the bird, lion, and snake-flying thing. It just swallowed the rock and grabbed Seto as well. It roared again and flew of, leaving Mai to her lonesome.

* * *

Mai fell to the ground, and stared at the far way speck that had been the weirdest creature she had ever seen in her entire life. She then looked down and began to shake. They were gone; just like that. 

Mai had never felt so close to a group of people ever in her life except for possibly Duke.

Mai had been born in a small village close to the inn had worked at. Her mother had died in childbirth.

Mai was born alone into the world.

Her father had died two months before her birth in a scouting mission for the village. Mai had never known her father or mother. She was raised in an orphanage with 60 other children. She never had friends. The other children had shunned her, made fun of her.

She never liked remembering her past.

She didn't like being alone either.

Mai had met Duke when she was about 15 years old. That was about two years ago. She had been kicked out of the orphanage because when you turned 15 you were thought old enough to get your own job or in a women's case, find a husband.

She had been sitting on a bench near a small tavern in the town a few yards from her old 'home'. Mai had felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see spiky blacked hair man smiling down at her. "Um…hello?" Mai said awkwardly.

"Hello Miss! My name is Duke. May I know your name?" said the man.

"Mai."

"Miss Mai, are you looking for work?"

After that Mai worked at the Top of the Mountain. She had started as a dishwasher and now, she owned the place. Well, she shared it with Duke.

Then she had met the five of them.

Yami was charming and Anzu was a wonderful friend. Serenity was one of the sweetest girls and Seto was probably the coldest human being she would ever have the chance to meet. Then there was Joey…

Mai sighed. Then there was…_Joey_…

Mai had liked him from the second she made eye contact with him. He was handsome, funny, and a bit of a goof ball. He had charm and was insanely courageous.

She had…never liked someone…so much before.

* * *

Anzu almost started to cry. She had never seen anything as horrific as this creature before. The spider wasn't half as bad as this. 

She struggled in the animals grasp again and accidentally hit her head on the snake part of the creature…

…and almost threw up.

Anzu was completely irked. What was going on? Where was Mai? Where were they going? She turned to look at the three in the other talon and almost laughed.

Serenity was next to Joey, looking ahead, squinting in the wind. Joey was glaring at the person next to him, who happened to be Seto.

Anzu turned to her other left and saw Yami asleep, snoring softly. Yawning, she closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder, going to sleep as well.

* * *

SCREECH! 

Mai turned and gasped. _That is a really big bird._

It was true. A large eagle was flying towards her. Its golden feathers that rustled in the wind, and by the beak, that she thought, was made of gold awed her.

Yet, the most beautiful thing about it was its eyes. They were a deep amethyst that glittered in the light. That's when she realized it.

It was heading right for her. Turning to run, she heard it screech again. She was to late.

Preparing for impact she hunched her shoulder, awaiting the blow. It never came.

Instead of feeling its sharp beak go clean through her she felt her veins erupt in intense heat. Her eyes glowed a violent shade of purple.

Mai raised her arms up into the air… and slowly began to float up.

She turned east and headed in the direction the creature had taken her friends.

* * *

Joey groaned and rubbed his back. Why did that stupid bird have to drop them so hard! 

He looked down to see that they were in a nest of some sort. It was made of twigs, small stones, and mud. He turned to see the others groaning. Everyone was there, except for…Mai.

Joey's ears perked. He had noticed that since he had merged with the tiger, his senses had increased. The sound was rushing air, moving very fast towards them.

Joey looked out of the nest and smirked. They were saved.

He watched as the streaming purple blot of fire that was Mai (he knew it was her) approach faster and faster. The creature screeched and turned to face Mai.

Ami stopped in front of it and said, "Give my friends back now!"

The creature seemed to chuckle and cried again and raced towards Mai. Mai simply twirled her arms in small circles, then big. As the five watched they saw that she was turning the air around her arms, creating small tornadoes.

The creature screamed in triumph and prepared to snap at Mai.

Mai shoved her arms forward. The tornadoes escaped her old and flew at the creature. It blew it right into the cliff behind them. It shrieked in fury and fell to the ground. Clumsily getting up it glared up at Ami and prepared to get up again.

Mai shook her head and seemed to through something. The thing tried to fly but it was immobilized! It couldn't budge. It thrashed and hit the cliff again.

Joey turned and smiled. Mai had won.

The cliff began to crumble. The beast was still frozen. It cried in fury. Then, it was silenced under two tons of rock. "YES! THAT WAS AWESOME MAI!" Joey yelled.

Mai smiled and floated over to the five of them. When she landed Serenity and Anzu immediately hugged her. Smiling, she hugged back. Yami gave her the thumbs up telling her good work. Seto nodded. When the girls got off her Joey then hugged her. She tried to hold back her blush.

"Hey, Mai! Look! The stone!" Serenity said, pointing towards the tree they were in.

Mai looked down.

Embedded in the trunk of the mighty tree was a large amethyst. Mai spread her arms out and floated down towards it. She grabbed the stone. It feel into her hand. Smiling, she turned back to show them.

She couldn't see her friends, only ruby mist.

* * *

**Hope you liked it. I'm trying to update once a week but it's going to start getting harder with school and everything. First year in high school. Scary isn't it? Anyway, review please!**

**-Em**


	10. Chapter 10: The Flaming Pit of Lava

**Hello! Thank you so much for your reviews! I apperciate it so much. I decided to post this one early because i have tryouts this weekend. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Read and Review!

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Chapter 10

_The Flaming pit of Lava_

"You think he's unconscious?"

"_No_…he's dead, mutt."

"WHAT!"

"_Seto_…"

"What?"

"YAMI! WAKE UP! YOU'RE NOT DEAD YET!"

Yami felt himself being violently shaken awake. Groaning, he slowly opened his eyes…and was face to face with Joey. "AUGH!" Yami cried, pushing him back.

"I knew he wasn't dead!" Joey said, proudly.

"I was kidding…" Seto murmured, holding back a smirk.

"WHAT?"

Joey went over to fight with Seto who merely opened an eye to look at the shorter man. Serenity sighed and shook her head. She smiled at Yami and said, "You were out for quite a bit. You had us all a little scared."

"Sorry," Yami said bashfully and turned to look behind him. Anzu was shaking slightly.

"Anzu, are you okay?" he asked.

Anzu stared at him and then laughed, "Of course. I was just worried."

Yami felt himself grow warm in the face. She was worried about him? A flash of light interrupted his thoughts on the matter before he could explore it further. He turned. It was Fatima.

"Hello my friends! You have recovered the second stone!" Fatima said, clapping her hands softly.

"Yes, we have. Here you go," Mai said, handing Fatima the amethyst.

Fatima held it in her hand and sighed, slouching ever so slightly. She straightened up and said, "Well done. Veata's stone is safe. Did you merge with your guide?"

Mai nodded. "Excellent. Everything is running smoothly. Good luck. Your goal is to go inside that volcano," she said pointing northward.

Yami hadn't even noticed it, which was hard to believe. The volcano loomed ahead, glowing a red aura. Black smoke billowed from the top and lava spurted out. Yami shivered. He wasn't cold. Was he…afraid?

"Good luck," she said again and vanished.

"Great," Joey sighed, "We get out of one adventure and then thrown into another one!"

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"How 'bout now?"

"Mutt. Please, shut up."

There was a pause.

"How 'bout now?"

"YOU IMBECILE!" said Seto, turning towards Joey who took a step back, "WE'RE NOT THERE YET BECAUSE WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE'RE GOING!"

"Seto, we do know where we're going. We have to find a tunnel into the volcano," said Yami.

Seto glared at Yami. "Yes. I'm sure there is some random tunnel into a volcano."

Yami growled. "If Fatima said there is, there is! We need to find it!"

"Whatever."

Anzu looked over at Yami. Why was he so tense? Not that Seto was helping or anything. He had been acting like this since Fatima showed them where they had to go next. She hoped he was okay.

They had been walking for over 6 hours. They were walking around the volcano, trying to find the tunnel Fatima spoke of. Anzu held back a groan. She wasn't used to walking _this_ much. She was about to ask if they were there yet. She gasped.

The tunnel!

"Look! Over there!" Serenity said, pointing in front of them.

The tunnel was about half a mile away. Reddish, orange glow emitted form the depths of the tunnel and as the six got closer, intense heat waves washed over them. Anzu coughed. The air was thick with smoke and ash. She couldn't wait to get away from this place.

* * *

The tunnel's entryway was quite magnificent. Intricate designs and symbols were around the opening, making no sense to Yami. At the top of the tunnel was the head of the gargoyle with blood red eyes. Yami heard Mai grumbling about the heat.

Yami looked around. Joey and Seto had thrown their cloaks off and rolled about the sleeves of their tunics. The girls had gotten rid of their heavy clothing as well and Mai had the courtesy of shortening their dresses so they were like her skirt. They had rolled up their sleeves as well. They were all sweating from the heat.

Yami wasn't sweating.

"Well, let's go in," Joey said.

No one moved. Yami saw the unsure faces (well, Seto had a straight face) and turned back to the tunnel.

Yami took the first step in. Anzu, Joey, Mai, Serenity, and then Seto followed him in.

_

* * *

Wow, Serenity thought, __so this is what the inside of a volcano looks like_.Serenity thought, . 

The tunnel walls were hot molten rock. Lava poured in from crevices and made rivers on both sides of the rock path the group was walking on. They had to walk in a single file line because the path was so thin.

Serenity didn't feel safe at all. It was like walking across a rickety old bridge.

They had been walking for a few minutes. The scenery had changed much. The occasional magma bubble and gust of smoke was all that attacked. No giant spiders, no strange creatures that blew her mind.

_I wonder who would think of putting a snake, lion and bird together_, Serenity thought.

As she pondered this thought, Joey was listening hard to the noises around them. The noise of the lava river, bubbles bursting, crumbling rock…wait what?

Joey turned and shouted, "LOOK OUT!"

The rock beneath them began to shake. Anzu screamed. The rock was crumbling around her. She broke away on her on slab of rock and drifted away. "YAMI, HELP!"

"ANZU!" Yami shouted, reaching his hand out to her. He then felt the ground crumble beneath him as well, and he floated away in the opposite direction.

"Mai! Joey!" Serenity cried. The two drifted away on the same rock, leaving Serenity with Seto.

Serenity shrieked. The ground was falling away. As she was about to float away, without a second thought, Seto grabbed her wrist. "Hold on," he said gruffly, and began trying to pull her back over.

_Almost there, _he thought and then felt her wrist slip away. He watched her drift away and then felt himself moving towards her. They all floated away, each a few feet away from the other. Well, everyone except Yami. "YAMI!" Anzu cried, realizing he hadn't come with them.

Yami stared hopelessly after them. He watched them turn a corner. They were gone. Yami stood for a few more moments. He was alone.

* * *

"We need to get back to Yami!" Anzu said, turning to look at the others.

Why hadn't Yami's piece of rock follow the others? Was it the current? The lave flow? Also, why didn't Joey use his magic?

"Anzu, to answer your first question, it had to be the current. There is no other way," Seto said.

"And to answer your other, my magic is not working. The last time it worked was when I was flicking stones outside the volcano. It stopped working when we got in," Joey said, looking miserable.

"Same with me Hun," Mai said sadly, before Anzu could ask.

"Then how are we going to get Yami back here?"

There was no answer. Anzu fell into a heap on her rock and began to weep quietly. "This day keeps getting better and better," said Seto sarcastically, with a twinge of panic.

"Huh?" Anzu asked, and turned.

Doomed. They were all doomed.

They were heading straight for…for a…lava fall.

* * *

Yami knew they were in danger.

He didn't know how, he just did. He also knew that he had to help them. Fast. _But how?_ He thought, and angrily hit the rock beneath him. He stopped.

Was that chirping?

He turned towards his left and watched the lava. The spot he was looking at began to bubble and churn. Then it began to spin clockwise, creating a whirlpool of lava. There was a rush of air and flames shot out of the pit. Yami couldn't breathe.

The most beautiful creature he had ever seen had come out. Its plumage was flaming fire red. It's eyes so white hot he felt like he was on fire just looking at them. Its tail was thin at the beginning and grew steadily longer until it could circle the bird three times. The end was white flames, the start of it a dull red. It's golden beak opened and the bird cried out.

The cry was like nothing he had ever heard before. It was like hundreds of Crishan's finest orchestra's playing at once in the same tune, or the call of a flock birds shrieking all at once. The bird stopped.

Yami seemed to know it would help him, or at least he thought it would. The bird cried out again and flew right through Yami. It disappeared with him.

Yami cried out and fell to his knees (he had gotten up before). His magic never felt like this. It was raw power and it was painful. As Yami's eyes began to grow crimson he decided that it was okay that it hurt. It felt right.

* * *

Anzu watched the lava fall come closer. She didn't cry out. She was too frightened.

This was it.

She continued to watch it and slowly began shaking. She told herself to stop. She did. She felt like throwing up. She held it in. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs.

Anzu screamed as she went over, she held on to the rock as she fell. Her screams were mixed with Serenity's and Mai's and the cries of Joey and Seto. She braced herself for the burning hotness.

The rock stopped. She slammed into it, still holding on. She slowly opened her eyes.

She was still in the volcano. She was still on the rock. She wasn't falling. She was hanging in midair. Well, not exactly. A column of lava was holding up Anzu's rock. _I'm okay! We're okay!_ She thought, as she turned to look at the others who were cheering (except Seto who looked relieved).

"Anzu! Are you okay?"

"YAMI!" Anzu cried.

Yami stood on his own column of lava, surrounded in ruby red light. He smiled at her and a bridge of lava led the way to Anzu's column. Yami ran over.

Without a second thought, Anzu threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Yami's eyes widened. "Oh, Yami! I'm so happy you're okay!" Anzu said.

Yami hugged her back.

"I don't want to break this love fest up or anything," Seto said sarcastically," but your stone is behind you."

Anzu blushed and pulled herself away. Yami turned. The lava fall was parting like a curtain. When it stopped, in the center was a ruby. Yami felt himself moving towards it. He looked around. Joey was moving the rock towards it.

When Yami got there and reached out. The rock flew into his hands. "Yes!" he heard Serenity say," We found it! The third stone!"

Blue fire shot of the lava and surrounded them. When the flames went down, they were gone.

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**That was pretty long. I hope you like it! Please review! More next time!**

**-Em**


	11. Chapter 11: Typhoon

**Hey! Sorry I took so long. I know school isn't a good excuse but i haven't had enough time to do anything. I had tryouts this wewk as well. Yet, I finished it! Hopefully 12 will be done by next week. I've only had school for two days and already have homework. Enough rambling! Here's the story!

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Chapter 11

_Typhoon_

"So Yami, you have found the third stone?" Fatima asked, smiling at him.

Yami grinned and nodded. Reaching into is pocket; he pulled out the ruby and handed it to Fatima. "Glorious," Fatima said as the ruby disappeared, " Hakan's stone is safe."

She looked at the group before her. They were so much like the originals. Joey was funny and kind, but strong like Nitesh. Mai was strong-willed and nice with snips of attitude here and there, much like Veata. Yami was tough and already was skilled in magic. He understood what his firepower could do! He was a leader and would make a good king someday. Exactly like Hakan. The other's…

Well, she still hadn't decided yet. They needed their powers so she could truly understand who they were. Fatima could open the doors of the element minds and see who they truly were. Until the others found their stones, their minds were behind locked doors.

"Friends, you have a challenge ahead. To find the next stone, you must use this...erm...raft…and make it to this part of the ocean not to far from shore. Good luck," Fatima said, and waved.

"Well," Mai said, when Fatima had gone, "Let's get that stone."

* * *

The six were on a beach. The beach stretched to the left and right of them for about six or seven miles give or take. Behind them stood a forest of palm trees. In front was the light blue sea. 

Anzu sighed. She loved the water. She loved taking baths and being outside when it was raining. It was almost a punishment to be inside when it was. Though she loved the water, she had never once been to the beach, much less see the ocean.

The sand was pearly white grain that made her boots sink in every time she took a step. She also had seen plenty of shells in the sand. The last time she had seen shells was at the marketplace in Arilea.

She breathed in. The salt in the air made her sneeze. Anzu smiled; she liked that smell.

Anzu heard splashing and she opened her eyes (which had been closed) and watched as Serenity, who was barefoot, running into the ocean. She had pulled her dress up so it wouldn't touch the water. She screamed in laughter as she ran back out. "It's so cold!" Serenity shrieked and ran back in, giggling almost insanely.

Anzu heard Joey chuckle and followed his sister in. Serenity began to splash him. She watched as Mai joined them, splashing Joey right in the face. Seto followed and stood and watched. He even splashed Joey. Yami was about to follow, when he noticed Anzu hadn't come yet. "C'mon Anzu! I haven't seen the ocean in years! Come in with us!"

Anzu watched as her walked over pulled her up and told her to take off her boots, "Royal Order," he had said.

Laughing, she took of her boots and followed him in. When she reached the water, she shrieked and jumped back. It was FREEZING! Taking a deep breath she walked ankle deep and stopped.

This was so nice. Anzu was getting used to it now. She smiled contentedly and watched as Joey managed to get Seto's hair wet. Seto threw a shell at his head. Anzu laughed along with the others.

* * *

Seto couldn't remember the last time he had seen the ocean. It was nice to get away from the land, even if it was on this stupid raft. If you could even call it _that_. 

The so-called 'raft' consisted of 12 logs tied together with some rope. _Yes_, Seto thought, _highly_ _safe_. In the center was the mast with a few pieces of cloth to capture the wind with. He was sitting with his back on the mast facing west, watching the golden sunset. The sky was pink behind the sun. It faded into a dark violet. The clouds were large and fluffy looking like a sweet he had seen at the market when he was little.

Seto was watching the waves as well. The waves were pink from the light. He breathed in and sighed, he liked this smell, it was rejuvenating after three days of nonstop searching. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Seto jumped slightly. Turning he saw Serenity sitting next to him on her knees. Her chocolate eyes were on the ocean, watching it. He grunted in reply.

She only giggled and shook her head slightly. She gave him a sidelong look before shaking her head again and averted her eyes towards the ocean.

Seto looked at her in the corner of his eye. He saw her auburn locks waving gently in the ocean breeze, bangs falling slightly in her face. Her hands were clasped in her lap. She looked completely relaxed.

Just looking at her made him feel like he was as well; relaxed, just watching and being peaceful, he felt together and whole. He shook his head and his usual frown deepened. He didn't have feelings! He was too strong for that kind of thing! "Hey Serenity! Do you want some dinner?"

Seto held back a sigh of contempt. The mutt. Serenity sighed audibly and replied saying," Coming Joey."

She turned to Seto and smiled and said, "C'mon, dinnertime."

He could only nod and she left to go sit next to her brother who was stuffing whatever they were eating down his throat. He turned back to the sunset and watched it sink even further. The ocean was a deep violet. Seto frowned deepened again. He felt different. He felt…

Empty.

* * *

That night Joey was restless. 

He had so many things on his mind. First was this whole element thing. According to Fatima he was the reincarnation of the earth sprit, Nitesh. He felt a deep rumble in his chest like a purr from a giant cat.

Joey knew the tiger he had seen in the jungle was his sprity thing. Was it also the soul of… Nitesh? He felt the purring again and guessed it was a yes.

He thought harder. His friends. Joey was extremely worried about them. His new friends Yami and Anzu and…okay _Seto_ where becoming very important to him (Seto was only a little). He was also worried about Serenity and Mai. What would he do if either of them got hurt in a battle? Joey had only been able to use his magic when he received it and when one of the others wasn't getting theirs. How could he save them?

Joey also worried about would be next. Anzu, Seto and Serenity still hadn't received their magic or found their stones yet. What if Serenity got hers next? He wouldn't be able to help her!

_Too many thoughts at once_, he thought and groaned and rolled over to the right. There was a sharp intake of breath.

Joey had accidentally hit Mai. She grunted and before Joey could move had nudged in closer to Joey so her head was on his chest. Joey didn't move.

He waited a few moments and sighed. She wasn't going to move anytime soon. He relaxed and closed his eyes.

They flew open.

He sat up, gently holding Mai and gasped.

He shook Mai. "MAI! WAKE UP!" He turned to the other's sleeping around him. "Guys! We need to wake up!"

Anzu groggily got up from her spot near Yami. Serenity yawned and asked, "Joey, what's up?"

"That's what's up!" he shouted over the increasing wind.

"Shoot," Mai, who had woken up, and Seto chorused.

Three columns of water were approaching them. They were huge! Each of them was touching the black clouds above. They were thin little cyclones and they were coming at them fast. "We need to get out of her," Yami shouted.

Mai nodded and threw hr arms forward. They were thrust forward a few feet and then stopped. Mai shook her hands and stomped her foot angrily. She tried again. Zilch.

"My magic is gone!"

"That mean's ours are probably gone as well," Yami said. Joey nodded.

"Than what in the name of Sekina are we going to do!" Serenity cried fearfully.

Anzu screamed. The first cyclone was in front of them. Anzu watched as Mai started lifting in the air. Mai's scream's tore through the air. She was lost in the cyclone

Joey was next. The first one left with the two of them heading east. The second one swept Seto and Serenity. The third nabbed Yami. "NO! YAMI!" Anzu cried.

"Anzu," was the weak call she heard.

Anzu fell down on the raft and watched it head east. Head east with Yami.

_Yami_…

* * *

Serenity screamed. She was going so fast! Around and around and around and around and just thinking about it made her want to throw up her dinner. She had her eyes closed, she was too afraid to open them. 

Wait. Was Seto with her?

"Seto?" she croaked out. Her voice was sore from crying out. "SETO!"

"What?" came the strangled reply.

"SETO!"

Serenity opened here eyes and some him swirling across from her. She squealed in delight. Someone was with her! And it was Seto! He would help her. "I'm coming over to you," she shouted over the wind.

She noticed that her clothes were soaked because this was a water cyclone. Rain was pelting her skin like small stones. It seemed to come down harder as she 'swam' towards him. "Almost there," she whispered, "Please Seto, grab my hand."

Seto growled and pulled her in and held her by the shoulder so she wouldn't blow away.

_Now I'm safe_, Serenity thought, smiling.

* * *

Anzu wept and wept. The tears just kept on falling. 

Her friends. Yami. YAMI.

She needed them. They were her life now. After all the things they've been through she knew, she just knew, that they would be friends for life, even Seto.

Maybe even more than friends.

_I can't think of that now_, Anzu thought, _because I…I might never ever see him again. _This thought made her tears fall harder. She looked up.

After the waterspouts had left, the sea had become utterly silent. No sound, no waves. Except…Anzu had just heard a splash. Turning to the east, she saw the most beautiful she could possibly ever see.

The sun had started coming out a few minutes ago, she had really noticed. The waves were moving now. And the sea was a golden color. The stars were blinking out, one by one. The most beautiful creature Anzu had ever seen had just jumped out of the water.

It had a bottlenose and a sleek gray body with a tattoo with what looked like a wave on it. It had a dorsal fin on it's back and a tail like a whale only smaller and more agile. It looked made for speed. The most magnificent thing about it though was how gentle it's crystal blue looked. The sea spray behind it looked like gold.

She hadn't noticed that she had run to the very edge of the raft to watch. Anzu kept her eyes on the dolphin (she knew what it was called since she had read about it in the Arilean libraries) as it swam closer. It stopped a few feet in front of her.

Anzu made eye contact with those amazing eyes…and watched as it jumped in the air, did a back flip…and passed right through her.

She fell to her knees. Her insides felt like a hurricane!

Her eyes turned a brilliant sapphire, a color to even rival Seto's. She focused her attention east.

* * *

Yami felt himself grow closer and closer to unconsciousness. He felt his eyelids flutter shut. He couldn't make it. 

His last thought before he slowly felt himself go was, _Anzu_.

Her face flashed through his mind and he was gone from the real world. "YAMI!"

_Anzu? _Yami thoughts came back in a flash. _ANZU?_

"YAMI!" Anzu cried, "I'M HERE! PLEASE HOLD ON!"

"Anzu," he whispered and managed a ghost of a smile.

Anzu was outside of the spout. Her azure eyes were concentrated in the spouts in front of her. It was spinning clockwise. Anzu felt the water pelt Yami's skin, heard Mai's shouts, Joey's cries, and Seto's strangled breathing. She felt the rise and fall of Serenity's chest as she was calmly breathing. Anzu heard her thoughts.

_Anzu, _Serenity thought, _we believe in you. _

Anzu had a sudden rush of strength. Her arms turned pale blue as she began to spin counter clockwise. Her spin, much like the dancer she admired, was becoming faster by the second.

The first spout came lose. Anzu's stopped and lifted her left arm up. Joey and Mai landed on the water pillar. Anzu began to spin again. The second one came lose. Anzu lifted her right arm and then pulled it towards the other column. She began to spin again.

Yami finally broke free!

As he fell onto his watery cushion instead of floating towards the others he floated towards Anzu. She lightly touched the water. She was walking on it.

"Anzu…" Yami said.

She only smiled. He got up and hugged her violently. She blushed.

"Look," Mai said, interrupting.

They looked west. A whirlpool was forming in the water. A single rock column rose from the center. On it was a sapphire. It floated on air towards Anzu. She turned to see Mai making pulling motions. It stopped in front of her.

Anzu reached out and grasped it. The others cheered (Seto grunted) and she smiled. The fourth stone!

Black clouds formed above them. Thunder rumbled. Black lighting laced out of the sky and hit the six. They were gone.

* * *

**Okay! Please review! Thanks!**

**-Em**


	12. Chapter 12: Into the Dark

**Hello! Sorry this chapter took so long. It's a little shorter than the last one (okay, alot shorter) but I hope you enjoy. Once again, I want to thank the people who reviewed for their support! Hope you like this one!

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**

Chapter 12

Into the Dark

Mai gaped, closed her mouth, and then opened it again.

Then, realizing that she probably looked like a goldfish she closed it again and looked worriedly at the thing in front of her. The thing in front of her was the mouth of a cave. A really, big, scary looking cave.

The cave was on the side of a hill, which was quite pleasant. The hill was pleasant, not the cave. The meadow around the cave was rich in tall grass and an assortment of different wildflowers. Mai felt the wind picked up and breathed in. The air felt good here.

She turned to look at the others and saw that faithful Fatima had arrived. The girl smiled at them and turned to Anzu. "Anzu, dear, have you found the fourth stone?"

Anzu smiled and opened her palm. Clutched in her hand was the beautiful sapphire that they had set out to find. Fatima's smiled widened and she said, "Excellent! You have Thuy's sapphire!"

The stone flew towards Fatima who grasped it in her hands. "Thank you my friends! Only two more two go!" her eyes flicked towards Serenity and Seto, "The next stone is in that cave. Find it and you're journey for the stones is almost over. So long!"

Fatima disappeared. Mai sighed and rubbed her arms. She just knew the next stone was in there. That meant something bad was going to happen she just knew it. She turned to the cave again and shivered. There was something about that cave that didn't feel right. Mai felt herself feeling suddenly warm.

Mai turned to see Joey looking concerned behind her, with his hands on her shoulders. She blushed. "Are you okay?" he asked, "Are you cold?"

She could only shake her head. Why did he make her feel like her legs were jelly, or that she could take the biggest risk of the world with no worries? He smiled and said, "Good."

Mai's face reddened. That was another thing too. His smiles. They were so adorable. "Well, are we just going to look at it, or are we going to go in?" Seto asked, voice icy.

"Sure," Yami said.

Yami, Anzu, Mai, Joey, and Seto began walking towards the cave. "Wait!" a voice cried.

The five turned to see Serenity staring sheepishly at her boots. The others stared at her, puzzled. "Ren? What's wrong?" Joey asked, confused.

"Do you think we could have some light? That cave is very dark," Serenity replied, still utterly fascinated with her boots.

Anzu looked thoughtful. "That's a good idea. I can't believe we were going to walk blindly into that place," Anzu said.

Mai agreed, followed by Yami and Joey. Seto looked at Serenity with a curious frown before nodded curtly towards Yami.

Joey lifted his hand and made a 'come' motion. His fingers grew a pale green. Six branches flew towards them. They each caught one. Yami put his hand out and concentrated. His hand burst into flame. The others held out their branches, lighting them.

Mai noticed that Serenity's face had gotten some of its pinkish tinge back. Before, the girl had been pale white. "Are we ready now?" Seto asked sounding slightly irritated.

Serenity nodded, smiled and said, "Now we are."

* * *

It had been about an hour since they had taken their first steps into the cave. At least, Seto hoped it had been only an hour. 

They had stayed clumped together, Yami and Joey leading, with him and holding the rear.

After about what he assumed was a half hour, he had begun to feel extremely bored. So he decided to think about what was happening.

So far, he had figured out that a few weeks ago, he had been a normal prince sitting on his throne, listening to a peasant begging for economic help. Then, those two appeared. At this thought he shot a cold glare at Joey, who stiffened slightly, and a moderate glare at his sister who shivered.

Not that that meant he had made her do it. The girl had been shaking every since they walked in. Seto had come up with an idea. That little princess Serenity was scared of the dark. He stole another glance at her before returning to his other thoughts.

So after the idiots told them their thoughts, he realized that he and his servant, Anzu, were involved as well. Leaving his younger brother behind, he left for the capital of Crishan. There he met the queen and prince, who happened to be a mage and also happened to have some sort of attraction towards Anzu.

Seto snickered. Anzu was particularly attracted to the boy. So, back to his thoughts, Seto went with the other four and ended up at some in where the girl walking next to him worked. After a few hours there, they meet a crazy glowing women named Fatima. She confirmed his only clue to his connection with these elements.

That he was, in fact, one.

Then there were the crazy stone adventures. Joey had received his earth magic, Mai got wind, Yami had fire, and Anzu learned water magic. Only Serenity and himself had yet to get their powers. It was only a matter of time anyway…

"Did you hear that?" Serenity whispered.

They stopped walking. Seto glared at the girl. What now? "Hear what? Silence?" he asked, coldly.

"No," Serenity said, sounding a little hurt, "It sounds like…"

"Sucking?" Yami asked, looking ahead. He hadn't turned around.

"Yes, exactly," Serenity said.

"Sucking? What do you mean by sucking…AAHH!" Mai screamed.

Mai felt something pulling at her arm; She turned and saw that her arm was not there anymore. She pulled at it. It wouldn't budge. Every second that passed, her arm got pulled deeper into the darkness. "JOEY!" she cried.

"MAI!"

Joey ran over and started pulling on her. Still, she was pulled deeper and deeper. It was getting faster now. Her left leg was halfway gone, her right arm was half missing, her left was gone as well. "Anzu!" Yami cried.

Joey turned to see Yami running towards the other girl. Anzu was going away faster than Mai was. Her arms and waist were gone. The girl struggled and shrieked. Yami began pulling like Joey had been.

Joey's attention returned to Mai again. Her arms and legs were gone. Her waist was almost gone as well. "Mai," he whispered weakly.

"Joey, look."

He was disappearing as well. He held onto her shoulders as he began to disappear rapidly. Yami's upper body was almost gone. All that was left of Anzu was her floating head, watching sadly. Serenity was pulling in vain at her brother. He hadn't even noticed. "Joey," she was whimpering softly.

"Bye, Joey," Mai said sadly. She closed her eyes and was gone.

"MAI!"

"ANZU!"

Anzu disappeared. Yami followed in suit. "Joey," Serenity said.

"It'll be okay Ren, everything will be okay." He winked at her sadly before the darkness 'ate' him.

"NO!" Serenity cried, falling to the ground, crying. She put her head into her hands. "NO!"

She felt herself being pulled up and felt hands on her shoulders. They were Seto's. "Stop crying," he half-ordered.

She sniffled and looked up. "Your brother said it would be okay. Listen to him. It'll be okay."

Serenity stared at him. This man could be so…nice. "Thank you," she whispered.

His attention had turned to the ground though. She looked as well. She was being swallowed up. She shook and whimpered. "I'll be okay," she said.

He held her hand tightly, subconsciously. He watched the darkness lace around her fingers. Then they were gone. "Bye Seto," she whispered, and was gone.

He fell to the ground and stared dumbfounded were Serenity had been.

* * *

He sat in the dark. His light had gone out a few minutes after Serenity had gotten swallowed into the everlasting dark. Seto stared into the dark. 

He could actually see in the dark. It was completely dark in here, but he could see where the cave walls were. Every little detail. He also saw the shape moving closer to him. He couldn't hear it. Only its shape moving closer.

It stopped in front of him. Seto, not caring, putting his hand forward. The thing sniffed it with whiskers and a wet nose. Its warm breath felt good against his skin. It licked his hand.

Seto began petting the animal. It had sleek, soft fur and ears on top of its head. It had a long snout and strong legs. It also had a tail that was waving happily in the air. It licked him again. Then it walked into him.

Seto's eyes changed from sapphire blue to pitch black. He stood up.

He seemed to be glowing with an every darker black then there was in the cave. He lifted up his arm. His eyes blazed with night. His arm made it's own sucking noise. The Darkness in the cave was being sucked into his hand.

As the darkness began to clear Mai, Joey fell to the ground. Anzu and Yami and finally Serenity followed them. When the darkness was almost gone, he lifted his other arm and created a ball of darkness. He slowly brought his hands together. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. Seto brought his hands down still clasped. "You saved us!" Mai said, shocked.

"Thanks," Joey muttered.

Yami and Anzu cheered happily. Serenity walked over and put her hand on his arm. "Thank you. You can open your hands now," she said.

Seto grunted and opened his hands up.

Inside his hands was a pitch-black stone. Serenity was dumbfounded. "Seto, you found it," Yami cried.

They disappeared in separate puffs of white smoke.

* * *

**Please review! Only one stone left!**

**-Em**


	13. Chapter 13: Ray of Light

**Thank you for the many reviews. I apperciate them very much! Please keep replying. By the way, I think someone asked about Seto caring about Anzu. Let me explain. Seto doesn't necessarily like Anzu. He's just known her for a long time (okay, not a very long time) and he considers her someone he can trust ( a little). I might be answering this the wrong way, so don't throw anything at me if I'm wrong. Anyway, her's Chappie 13.

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Chapter 13

_Ray of Light_

"Fatima, how are you?" Serenity asked, smiling at the prophet's daughter.

Fatima smiled back and replied, "I am fine Serenity. Seto do you have the fifth stone?"

Seto grunted in response and opened up his hand. The opal shone in the cave that they were in.

When the six had awakened, it was due to the coldness surrounding them. They found themselves lying in snow. Yami had awakened first and had immediately opened his pal. Yami's hand burst into flames, warming him up immediately.

Anzu, who was lying next to him woke up and shivered. Joey, Mai, Serenity and Seto woke up and huddled near Yami. Fatima had appeared a few minutes after.

Fatima floated towards Seto and he handed the stone to her. "Thank you dark friend, for returning Darjan's jewel."

He shivered in response. "Friends, I am deeply sorry that you are cold," she said, watching them shiver.

Anzu asked, "Can you help us?"

Fatima shook her head and bowed her head. "I'm a sorry."

Serenity smiled weakly and said, "Please, don't be. We'll be okay."

The others nodded in agreement. Fatima nodded her head, and looked up. "Okay. Your mission is to reach the very tip of this mountain. You're in the ice caverns at the moment. Just go up hill for a few hours and you'll find an opening to the outside. Go up a few feet and a golden flag marks the tip. You'll find the stone there."

"Thank you," Mai said.

"Thank you, elements."

* * *

Joey rubbed his shoulders. He was freezing! What had happened to his cloak? 

Oh yeah… he had taken it off when they had visited the volcano.

_Shit, _Joey thought and growled.

* * *

Ever since he was little he had hadn't snow, cold, and winter in general. He remembered one time he had been on the lake, the Lake of Dreams. He had been watching Serenity ice skate. She was pretty good. Joey had been waiting for the lake to freeze over since the first snow. 

So when he got on the ice, he slipped and fell. He got up and then fell back down. Serenity giggled and skated over.

Then Joey fell through the ice.

He screamed and thrashed and reached towards the surface but his skates and all the layers he was wearing was weighing him down. He looked up.

Joey saw his sister throwing of her things. She was surrounded by light, like a little angel. Serenity raced into the water and helped her brother take of his things. They floated to the surface.

* * *

That's why he hated it. 

He looked over at Mai who was walking next to him. Her teeth were chattering uncontrollably. She was rubbing her arms so hard, that her movements were almost a blur. Joey walked over to her…

…and put his arms around her.

They stopped. Mai had stopped her vigorous rubbing. She turned and looked at Joey. He looked down. Violet met chocolate brown. "What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.

"Keeping you warm," he replied, simply.

Mai turned pink in embarrassment but didn't object. She liked the Prince. Joey sure didn't act like one.

When Mai worked at the inn a prince from the country Rikate had come to stay the night. The boy had black hair and glinting green eyes. He reminded her a little of Duke. The prince was bratty and treated her fellow workers like crap. He even had the nerve to dump a glass of lemonade on one of her friends when he thought that the lemonade he brought had 'dirt' on the ice.

The girl had left crying and Mai almost ran over and slapped him. The nerve of that man!

But Joey was nothing like that man! She had heard stories of the blonde prince. How he could handle a broad sword as if he was born with it in his hands. How he was kind but serious and loved his sister dearly.

Serenity was different from the princess she had heard of. Serenity was sweet and kind, just like she had heard. She was also strong and could cook surprisingly well.

She had heard many stories about the ice prince from Arilea. Seto was indeed a cold person. He called Joey 'mutt' and was sarcastic and superficial. Bu5t he was a good friend and had saved her from being eaten alive by darkness.

Yami was her prince. She knew all about him. He was nicer and friendly than she thought he would be though. He also seemed to like Anzu.

"The end of the tunnel!" Anzu cried out in relief.

Yami cheered along with Serenity and Joey. Seto stared straight ahead and waited for the rest of them to settle down.

"The final stone is close," Mai whispered and followed Joey out.

* * *

And Serenity had thought it was cold inside. 

Well, she was wrong.

Very wrong.

It was so cold her lips were numb. She couldn't feel herself stepping into snow underneath her. She could feel her fingers. All she could see was the weird masses of white in front of her.

It was snowing violently. That's the only thing she could feel. The ice shards ripping her skin. She felt blood trickling down her face where a piece of hail had hit her.

Serenity suddenly felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw the hazy figure of Seto. "Seto…" she croaked.

He was frowning. "We're almost there. Look up."

She did as she was told and saw a flash of gold. "The flag!" she said.

"I'm bringing you to Yami. Your brother wants you warm."

He took her hand and brought her so she stood right next to Yami. Serenity instantly began to melt. She looked over at Joey. Serenity mouthed a thank you.

Joey looked over questionably and walked over. "What?" he asked.

"Thanks for thinking of me," she whispered, still cold.

"For?"

"For telling Seto to bring me to Yami to get warm, of course!" Sometimes Joey was a little slow. Maybe the cold was affecting his brain or something.

"I never told that guy to do anything, but I'm glad you're warm. I'm going to stand with Mai," he whispered and patted her shoulder.

Serenity looked confused. She turned to the taller boy and watched him as he walked ahead of them.

* * *

The snow had died down. The flag was right in front of them. The flag was indeed gold. It had a white star emblazed upon it. _I wonder what the star means_, thought Anzu. 

Anzu watched as Serenity boldly made a grab for the flag. Anzu heard a gasp and looked over at Mai. Mai had turned around. Her violet eyes were wide in fear. "Mai, what's wrong?" Yami asked.

"Can't you see them? There are thousands," Mai said and helplessly stared in front of her.

Anzu frowned and looked at the same spot Mai was. What was that girl staring at? Anzu squinted her eyes and concentrated hard. "I don't think you guys can see them yet, and believe me when I say I'm happy you can't. Try closing your eyes. Listen," Ami instructed.

Anzu watched as Serenity and Joey closed theirs. Yami had as well. Seto on the other hand, was staring coldly ahead. Anzu closed her eyes.

Wing beats; the clang of armor; the swishing of tails; the cries and screeches. What were theses things?

"Look," Joey said.

From behind a cloud charged hundreds of black winged animals. They were like the beast that had captured them on the mountain, only all black and ten times worse. A tiny black ball, laced with dark blue lighting flew towards the creatures. They stopped their flight and watched as it came closer.

It stopped in the middle of them. A snap of fingers was heard and the ball exploded, blowing back the creatures. Anzu turned to the Arilean prince who was preparing a second ball in the palm of his hand.

Crimson fireballs through the air; rocks and stones hit the wings of the creatures and mini tornadoes crashed upon unsuspecting beasts.

Anzu, feeling useless, looked around. Too bad there wasn't any water…there was only ice. ICE. Feeling stupid. She remembered what Joey had done against the spider in the jungle. Shaping her hands in the air, she created an imaginary ice knife.

She turned around and saw a life size one behind them. She threw it towards the creatures and continued making more.

* * *

Serenity watched fearfully behind Yami and Anzu. What terrifying animals! She wished she could help but seeing no long sticks and unable to use magic was holding her back. She froze. 

Why wasn't anyone moving?

She looked over at Seto who was trying in vain to produce another black energy ball. Yami and Anzu weren't able to use magic either. Neither was Mai or Joey.

With a screech of triumph, the creatures hurled themselves at them. Anzu grabbed Yami and his behind him. Mai held Joeys hand. Seto growled in annoyance. _No!_ Serenity cried.

Serenity fell into the snow. Why, why, why, why, why? What had she done wrong? Where was the stone? Tears streaming down her face, Serenity looked down and gasped.

A pair of golden eyes were staring right back. Serenity realized that there was something sitting in her lap. A paw was on her thigh.

She could barely make out the wolf's outline. It was as white as the snow. The only thing that told her were its snout was, was that the wolfs pink tongue was hanging out. "Um…hello…" said Serenity uncertainly.

The wolf licked her face. Then it walked into her. Serenity gulped. The light…it was so strong! Her body burned and withered under the sheer power of the new magic. She cried out and then got up.

Her eyes changed from chocolate brown to gold. She turned towards the creatures. She lifted up her hand. A white shield appeared. The beasts, unsuspecting, flew straight into it. Dying before they could scream, they disappeared in puffs of black smoke.

A few had stayed behind. They were smarter than their friends. Anger pulsing through her, her shield went down and she pushed her hands out, Her arms glowing pure white, began pulsing in magic.

Crying out, she threw a flurry of light balls at the last ones. They cried out. When the light faded, they were gone. She floated down into the snow again and shook herself. Wow.

"Serenity," whispered Joey.

"Yeah, Serenity!" cried Mai and Anzu. They clobbered her.

Serenity was tearful. She had gotten her magic. Yami patted her on the back and Joey hugged her. She saw Seto nod curtly at her before saying, "The stone."

"Right," Serenity said and looked at the flag. It was gone!

Instead, in its place stood a crystal pedestal and on the top was a diamond. Serenity ran over and grabbed it. "The final stone," she whispered.

They were gone in puffs of yellow smoke.

* * *

A mountaintop away sat a white-cloaked figure. Shocks of white hair flew from underneath his hood. A smirked played across his handsome face. "Master will be pleased."

* * *

**I hope you guys know who the white haired man is. Anyway, please review and I'm sorry this was so late!**

**-Em**


	14. Chapter 14: Enemies Revealed

**Hey guys! I'm very sorry that this took so long. I won't give any excuses. This chaper is one of my shortest. It's not that good either, but I hope you like it. It introduces some new people. Anywya, I need to remember to have a disclaimer. Hope you like this chapter. Read and Review. **

**Disclamier: I don't own any characters. I do own this idea though.

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Chapter 14

_Enemy Revealed_

The white haired man looked out of the tower. In front of him was black, bare land. Twisted, rotted trees sprouted out of the ground, their branches in odd angles. He watched as evil looking creatures with large bat wings flew through the pitch-black sky. The only light was from the blood red moon.

There was a knock on the door behind him. His cold, blue-black eyes sharpened. "Who is it?" he growled in a menacing voice.

"Who else would dare knock on your door, Bakura?" a voice asked.

Bakura rolled his eyes and turned back to the window. He snapped his fingers and said, "Open."

The door flew open and another man walked in. This man had spiky, sandy blond hair and cold lavender eyes. His dark violet cape swirled behind him as a gust of wind blew through the window. He wore a dark black breeches and shirt and brown boots. "Bakura, he wants us to see him."

Bakura growled and looked at the other man. "Marik, I've had it with this man."

Marik looked uneasily behind him, checking if anyone was listening. Bakura snapped his fingers. "Close."

After the door closed Marik spoke. "So have I Bakura, but he says…" Marik faltered.

"Do you really think he let you have your sister back?"

Marik sat on the bed in the room. His gaze was on the floor. His eyes had a small softness in them. Bakura stared at his partner and sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring Isis up."

The other man shook his head and said, "Come one, he's waiting."

Bakura followed Marik out the door. He looked out the window one last time and shook his head. _This is getting out of hand_.

* * *

As they walked down the stairs, Bakura's thoughts were about the beginning of this madness. Before, this land used to be lush with forests, grass, light and people. He remembered when he was a squire when it happened. 

The white clouds faded away. The blue sky turned to black. The sun disappeared and was replaced with a blood red moon. There was a long, cold howl that tore through the air. At the time Bakura was at the castle, in the tower he had just been in.

He had watched in horror as nightmarish creatures rained from the sky, wielding axes, and short swords and knifes. He listened to the cries of things that human ears were never to hear.

He watched as the people in the village died. He heard the bodies hit the ground. He heard the screams of the women and children. Bakura shook in fear. What the hell was going on? There was a scream from the hall down below.

Bakura threw open the door and ran down the stairs. He reached the throne room doors and rammed into them. They were open. The room, which was usually full of light, was almost pitch black. The only light was from the few torches still on fire.

In the middle of the room laid two bodies. "NO!" Bakura cried, running over.

His mother and father were on the floor. Though they looked as if nothing had happened to them, Bakura saw the look in his mother's eyes were glazed over and his father's mouth was slacked. "Did you know," said a cold voice from behind him, "That your parents are so easy to kill?"

Bakura froze. Turning, he saw a man sitting on his father's throne. The man was older than him, with steel-like colored hair that covered his left eye. His eye was a deep redwood color that shone with so much evil; Bakura felt his courage and rage falter. "Who are you?" he asked.

The man laughed; it made Bakura shiver. "Bakura, I am Pegasus, conqueror of this world."

* * *

Not long after that, Bakura had met Marik, who had been from a village not far from here. He also had the pleasure (yeah right) of meeting some of the other minions. They were Rex, Weevil, and a little witch child named Rebecca, and a man with no name. 

Marik threw open the doors to the throne room. They walked into the room. The only light in the room was from the torch lit behind the throne. The two walked a few more paces forward then kneeled. "We are here Pegasus. What do you desire?" the two uttered.

A redwood eye watched them. "Get the other four. It's time to tell the elements just who their dealing with."

The two nodded and walked out of the room.

* * *

"My friends," Fatima said, "You did it! You have recovered all the elemental stones!" 

The others cheered, Seto even smiled. When the cheering ended, Joey asked, "What happens now?"

Fatima smiled. "Elements. As a gift from the Clan of Elements I give you new clothes."

Mai was the first to get a new outfit. Purple wind surrounded her as she felt her old, raggedy dress fall away. The wind stopped. Mai's hair was brushed her face wasn't grimy anymore. She wore a silver colored bodice and a short black skirt that ended two inches above her knee. Black boots ended at her knees. From Mai's wrists to her elbows was a band of silver wrapped around her arm.

Joey was next. Leaves rushed around him, cloaking him. He appeared in a dark green tunic, golden brown breeches and boots. For Yami, flames erupted around him. He appeared in a crimson tunic with golden thread designs around the collar. He had black breeches and boots.

Anzu was sucked into a vortex of water. She appeared with a sapphire blue shirt that ended above her bellybutton. Her sleeves were billowy. Her skirt was white and pleated, a bit longer than Mai's. She wore roman like sandals that tied up to her knees. Around her neck was a band of silver.

Seto's body turned black. He's tunic was black. He's breeches were black as well, along with his boots. He had a cape behind him that ended at his ankles that stayed aloft, defying gravity. Serenity turned white. She wore a white top that ended at her shoulders and was held aloft by golden clasps. Her skirt was long and was attached to a golden chain around her waist. It had a line cut out to her knee. Golden sandals adorned her feet.

They stared at each other in wonder. Serenity was the first to speak. "Thank you," she whispered.

* * *

Fatima smiled. "Now for these stones to do their jobs." 

She opened her hand. The emerald appeared. "Nitesh's stone, Joey is your new master. Go!" she cried.

The stone began flying towards Joey. As it flew over, it began turning into a sword. A broad sword to be exact. Joey caught it. It had a leaf design on the blade and a golden handle. On the hilt was the emerald. "Veata's stone, Mai is your new owner. Go!"

The amethyst flew towards Mai. It broke in half. Each half landed on a silver band. They burned violet for a second before fading. The amethysts were inlaid into the silver. "Hakan's ruby, Yami your new master. Go!"

The ruby spilt into like Mai's but changed into two short swords. Each had flame designs erupting from the hilt. The ruby was on the bottom of the handles. "Thuy's sapphire, Anzu is your owner now. Go!"

The stone attached itself to the silver band around Anzu's neck. The necklace had wave designs on it. The jewel hung from the band. "Darjan's stone, Seto is your master. Go!"

Seto's sword was a regular one with a silver blade that glowed by itself. The hilt was black. The opal shone from the glowing blade. "Allayna's stone, Serenity is your master. Go!"

The crystal grew longer. When it reached Serenity it was a staffs made of crystal. A golden ball with sun symbols on it was on the top of the staff. Once again, the six were utterly speechless. Anzu spoke this time. "Thank you."

"Remember, your spirit guides are still with you. They will help you with your magic."

"Fatima how could we ever…" Yami stopped.

There was a banging noise. The six noticed their surroundings. "This is Crishan palace!" Yami cried.

"Why isn't there anyone here?" Joey asked.

The doors were thrown open. Six people walked in. "We got rid of them," a cold voice said.

"But don't worry," a girlish voice said, "We didn't kill them. Their alive."

"Who are you?" Seto growled.

"Who are we?" another cold voice said, chuckling. Darkness floated behind them.

The first voice spoke again. "Your worst nightmare."

* * *

**That wasn't my best chapter. I hope you liked it anyway. Pegasus is conquerer! What's up with that? I'll explain later. Review please!**

**-Em**


	15. Chapter 15: The Power to Destroy

**Ladies and grntleman, this is definatly my shorest chapter ever and I'm incredibly sorry for it. So to please you and not give you just one chapter. You will be recieving another Chapter this weekend! But, i would apperciate you review to both! If i don't get at leats one, I'll be very sad. Anyway, this is a message for Misti-chan (sorry of I spelled it wrong) you do know that Anzu is Tea's japanese name right? It's the same person. If I said Tea anywhere in this story please inform me.**

**Here's Chapter 15. It has language sorry.

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Chapter 15

_The Power to Destroy_

The six and Fatima stared at the people in front of them. The first person who had spoken stepped into the light. Serenity gasped. "You!" Joey cried.

The white haired man snickered. "Hello Prince Joseph and Princess Serenity. It is nice to see you again."

Joey growled and made a move to leap at the man but was held back by Mai. "Joey, what is going on?" she asked.

"That man," Joey said pointing at the man, "killed my father."

A cold laugh sounded through the room. The third voice walked over so he stood next to the white haired man. "Coren had disobeyed our lord. He needed to die."

"Who are you?" Seto asked, glaring more than ever.

"I am Bakura," the white haired man said, "This is Marik."

"I'm Rebecca," the girlish voice said.

A little girl with blonde hair in pigtails walked out of the shadows. She wore robes of white with a blue stripe on the bottom. Her baby blue eyes had an inner evil playing in them. Yami's mouth dropped. How could this little girl be a white robe?

Two other figures stepped out of the darkness. They were about the same height and both boys. One wore a green shirt and black breeches while the other wore a purple shirt and green breeches. The green one had light blue eyes, light blue-green hair and golden-rimmed glasses. The other had long brown hair under a helmet with a purple steak and glinting brown eyes. They both had golden talismans around their necks.

"We are Rex and Weevil," the two said.

A brown robed figure came out last. It was hooded and it said nothing. "Now that you know who we are…" Bakura said and leaped over to Yami.

He put his hand in Yami's face and said, "Sleep."

* * *

Yami smirked and laughed. He had never felt so…so…powerful. 

He was in a volcanic setting, like the place where he received his powers. The sky was pitch black. He was on the rim of the volcano, staring into the red-orange depths.

He felt almost the same way he had felt when he had received his elemental magic. The fire that had burned within was ten times as much now.

"I'm am ruler of this world," he yelled into the dark.

"We don't think so," cam voices from behind him.

Yami turned to see Serenity, Seto, Joey, Mai, and Anzu glaring at him. Yami smirked. "Friends," he said, "I thought I had you killed."

"Your demons are worthless," Joey said.

Yami snorted and shook his head. Then, clenching his fists, he said, "Well, it will be more fun to kill you on my own anyway."

Fists on fire, he charged at his former friends. They scattered.

Yami went for Joey first. His former best friend had told him he was becoming to power hungry. He nailed Joey with his fist. Joey plunged into the flames of the volcano. Yami laughed cruelly.

Mai was the next to go. They had been friends and she just wouldn't listen to what he said. He grabbed her by her long blonde locks and threw her in after Joey.

Yami charged at Seto. That cruel, sick bastard! Yami knew Seto didn't like him from the start. Seto drew his sword and slashed out at Yami. Yami felt blood drip down his arm. Growling in annoyance, his fists turned blue in rage and he knocked Seto into the pit.

He grabbed serenity by the waist and locked her arms behind her back. He pushed her in, laughing insanely.

Yami turned towards Anzu.

Anzu had listened to him either. After all they had been through together and she just sided with the others, calling him insane. He walked over to her. She turned to run. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.

The flames died down from his hands. He grabbed her neck and lofted her into the air. He walked towards the very edge of the volcano's rim and smiled manically. "Dear, dear Anzu… you should have come with me. You could be queen."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Anzu cried.

Yami snarled and tightened his grip around her neck, choking her. "You are just a pheasant bitch to me know," he said, smiling.

"Yami…I…love…" the girl whispered.

A single tear escaped her sapphire eyes. Yami felt a pang in his chest. His eyes glazed over and his grip around Anzu's neck loosened, much to the girl's relief.

In his minds eye, all Yami saw was flames. He squinted and saw a shaping forming in the fire. It was the phoenix. _Young one…_ it said.

Yami's eyes widened. What in the world was happening?

_Warrior of Fire, this is a trick from the mage Bakura. He put a spell on you. This isn't happening._

Yami watched as the phoenix screeched and Yami covered his eyes.

* * *

"ANZU!" 

Yami awoke in a cold sweat. He looked around the room. He was no longer in the throne room of his castle but in the mage library.

Questions flooded his thoughts. Anzu…where was Anzu?

"Aw…little spiky woke up. I didn't think you would," said a voice from behind him.

Yami turned to see Bakura snickering at him from atop a bookcase. Yami shouted, "Where are the others?"

"You mean your girlfriend and your friends? Getting tortured by the others. You'll have to get past me first princely."

Yami's body turned bright red. Flames sprouted from his body. "Bakura, you just got someone you don't want to get mad, really pissed off."

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**Sorry for the shortness. Please forgive me! Please review. I hope this repayed for not having enough Yami x Anzu lately. **

**-Em**


	16. Chapter 16: Just a Dream

**I have no idea why these chapters are so short. Thanks to the people that reviewed last chapter. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. By the way, could someone explain why Tea's name is Anzu in this story to a reviewer?

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Chapter 16

_Just a Dream_

Bakura frowned at the prince. When did he learn that? To his knowledge, Yami wasn't on a very high level. The prince received his power only a few days ago. How could he already do this?

The white haired man chuckled. _Must be something I said_, he thought.

An angry looking fireball whizzed past his head, singing his white locks, interrupting his chuckles. He returned his attention to the other boy who was walking slowly over, still ablaze. Yami wasn't red anymore; he was turning orange.

Bakura went into his pocket and pulled out some ice shards. Throwing them in the direction of Yami, he cried, "FREEZE FOOL!"

Yami's eyes widen a little. Did that man just call _him _a fool?

The shards hit Yami directly. Making contact with his skin, he began to freeze over. He looked down at his hands and watched them ice over. Bakura laughed. That was a level six spell. No ordinary person lived through that.

He jumped down from his sat on top of the bookcase, landing gracefully, and made his way over to the ice sculpture. He snickered. Too-

The sculpture began to melt. Easy?

The icicle shattered sending ice shards everywhere. Yami appeared fully yellow orange now. "It won't be that easy, _fool_," Yami said coldly.

"Well, watch this," Bakura said, trying to seem unshaken. How did that little spike ball beat a level six spell?

Grabbing the canteen hooked to his waist, he emptied the bottle, letting the water drip to the floor. "TSUMANI WAVE!"

The water flew up into the air and began turning and twisting. The ball of water that it formed began growing at a fast rate. In under a minute, a huge wave was heading straight for Yami.

Yami didn't even blink when the wave washed over him. Bakura laughed. The poor idiot didn't even have a chance. He saw the form of Yami standing up, wet, and covered in the blue water.

Wait, was that…steam coming off him?

It was indeed steam and Yami wasn't covered in water. He was so hot he was blue. It was Yami's turn to laugh. "Is that all you have for me?"

Bakura stared in horror at the boy. That was a level 10 spell. LEVEL 10! He felt someone grab his tunic and he was pulled so he was looking at Yami. For once, Bakura was scared. "Where are my friends?" Yami said, "Where is Anzu?"

* * *

Serenity could not believe how tired she felt. She felt like she had just walked up that mountain where they had found Allayna's jewel, then back down, then repeating this seven more times. 

She also felt cold. The outfit Fatima gave her as very pretty but it wasn't very warm. What had the girl been thinking giving her this? Oh well.

Turning she only saw darkness. _Where are my friends?_ She thought.

Feeling scared, she took a deep breath. Trying to remember what Joey had taught her when she was little, she felt herself begin to et even breathes. Now, since Joey was a knight, he knew skills that helped a person know their surroundings. The thing you need to do is use your five senses.

Since Serenity couldn't see anything. She used her hearing. Hearing nothing but her own breathing, she tried smelling. Sniffing, she covered her nose. It smelt like…blood…death. Her eyes tearing she used touch. Feeling around, she gasped in horror. Someone's arm was underneath her hand.

Stepping back, she tripped over something and fell on top of something soft. Trying to remain calm, she threw her hand into the air. Light erupted into the room. Rubbing her eyes from the flash so she could see, she looked down at whatever she was on and screamed.

"Seto," she whispered.

The body was indeed Seto's. The boy's usually perfect brown hair was tousled. His face was way paler than usual, deathly white. His shirt was torn, dried blood was in some places but his wounds still leaked blood. Serenity looked down at her hands; they were covered in his blood.

The thing that got her though was the look in his eyes. Those beautiful, sapphire blue eyes were lifeless, empty. Serenity began to cry. "No!" she cried.

Looking around she saw other bodies, running over to each she saw they were her friends. There was Anzu's, whose eyes were wide in fear. Yami was torn into pieces. Mai was cold and her body set at an angle. Then there was Joey.

Her brother was just like the others. Joey sported burns and cuts all over his body. The worst thing was the stomach wound. It was still bleeding. "Joey."

The light disappeared. She felt herself begin to suffocate. So much…death; so much…blood. It was toxic. This terrible thing. This can't be happening!

She felt herself glow and turn warm, like a ray of sunshine was beaming down on her. _Serenity_… a voice called.

"Yes?"

_You are right; this is just a dream. It is also a spell; a terrible chaos spell. To stop it you need to know that this isn't real._

"Who are you?"

_I am your spirit guide. I am the white wolf. Now come on._

"Okay."

Serenity told herself over and over again. This is just a dream. This is just a dream. This is just a dream.

* * *

She awoke abruptly. Her top was soaked. She felt around her. She was on…dirt? Looking around, she saw she was outside of the castle and sitting on the dirt outside. 

She squeezed her hands; they were numb. Her right hand curled around wood. Remembering she had the staff Fatima gave her for a weapon, Serenity relaxed. What could happen?

"This could happen," a voice said.

Turning, she saw the boy who wore the glasses. The one with the blue/green hair. "Huh?"

Feeling something crawling up her arm, she saw it was a cockroach. "Ew!" she said, flicking it off. She felt more bugs crawling up her legs and her arms.

"Ready to have some fun?" the boy said, laughing crazily.

* * *

**Hope you like it! Please Review! **

**-Em**


	17. Chapter 17: Forever Lonely

**Hey! Sorry this is another short one. It's also a little bit late. Anyway, this has a few more chapters left (maybe five or six) plus the epilouge. Thanks so much to the people who reviewed, I really apperciate it. Anyway, here's chapter 17

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Chapter 17

_Forever Lonely_

Serenity shook. This was so disgusting.

She HATED bugs.

She felt them everywhere. Her legs, her arms, in her hair…this was insane! The boy laughed. "My bug friends will eat you alive."

Serenity tried to keep her cool, not that that was working, and asked, "Who are you again? When everyone was introducing themselves, I didn't think your name was worth knowing…"

The boy glared at her and replied, "I am Weevil, lord of bugs. I control-"

Weevil, still ranting, watched Serenity flick a caterpillar off her arm. Weevil stopped. Serenity flicked off a few more bugs from her left arm and moved onto her right. When she was done, she made sure no bugs were crawling up her skirt and continued to pick them out of her hair.

"What were you saying?" she asked and turned.

As she turned, her elbow accidentally landed on a bug. Squealing in disgust, she grabbed a leaf that was near her and wiped the blue gunk off her elbow. Looking up, she cried out.

Weevil was shaking in rage. "You…you just…killed a friend of mine…"

"Whoops! I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean it!"

"Sure."

Weevil began to grow a deep shade of brown green. Serenity watched in horror as bugs began to crawl up his legs. She backed away.

Serenity screamed. The bugs were covering his head!

Weevil began to talk. "Dear, dear Serenity. Because you killed one of my friends…you will die."

He began to grow again. The bugs made him about eight feet tall. Bug muscles bulged from the normally weak arms and a tail like a scorpion grew from his back. "It was an accident," Serenity said.

"I was going to have to kill you anyway. But, I pitied you and decided I would just slit your throat or suffocate you. Now, after I weaken you. I'm going to slowly let my bugs eat you alive."

Serenity stared at the former Weevil and put her staff in front of her. "I am not afraid."

Weevil snickered or at least seemed to. "Little girl, you should be."

And with that, he turned and whipped his tail at her. Serenity quickly jumped out of the way. He swung again, and she dodged again. "Come on girlie! Attack me!"

"You asked for it!"

Bringing her staff into the air, a thin beam of light flew from the golden ball on top of the staff. It hit Weevil arms, and sliced it off.

To Serenity's horror, Weevil laughed. His arm replaced itself!

"Is that all you have Serenity?" Weevil asked.

He swung his tail as Serenity again. This time, she didn't move fast enough. It slammed her into a tree close by. Holding her against it with his tail, Weevil moved his face so he was right in front of her.

"Time for the real fun."

* * *

Mai looked around. She was in Crishan again. She saw that she was in her inn, holding two glasses of ale. Turning she saw Joey, Serenity, Seto, Yami, and Anzu were standing near the fireplace laughing. 

Smiling, she walked over and said, "Hey guys. It's great to be together again!"

The group stopped talking and turned to look at her. Mai suddenly felt very stupid. "Who are you?" Yami asked.

"Yami, it's me! Mai! Your friend."

"I'm sorry. I've never heard of you. It was nice meeting you though."

The five turned away from her. "Anzu!"

Anzu looked startled. "How do you know my name?"

"Anzu, we're friends. Remember?"

The other girl shrugged and turned away. Mai didn't even bother trying to talk with Seto. He had already glared at her, bringing her down again. She felt so small. "Serenity…"

"Sorry," Serenity said, looking apologetic, "We've never met."

Mai felt herself begin to cry. "Jo-Joey…" Mai whimpered.

She felt the boy glare at her. "I don't trust you guys," she heard him say.

Watching them walk out of the inn, she fell to the ground. "No," she cried, "I'm alone."

Alone, just like she would be forevermore. Just like she was before she found the inn, before she had Duke, before all this.

A purple circle appeared around her. Purple wind formed around her, trapping her into a ball. Mai hugged herself. She was alone…forever.

_Why do you say that?_ A voice asked.

Mai looked around. Where was that voice coming from?

_From your heart. I am your spirit guide remember?_

"You're the eagle," Mai said in awe.

_That's right. Now, I want you to know that you are never alone. This is all just a trick. You need to break through this spell and help your friends._

"If you say so."

_Mai, you are never lonely because I will always be in your heart. _

* * *

Mai awoke in a fright. Shaking, she picked herself off the cool floor of the tile. She found herself in one of the many ballrooms. This one had a huge dome of glass for a roof with gold accenting. 

"Crishan place is beautiful. I can't believe I've only been to the palace once!" she said.

"It is nice, isn't it? Too bad you're going to die before you see the whole place."

"What?"

Turning, Mai saw a shadow across the room. The clouds moved away from the moon, revealing the shape. Mai wished it hadn't.

The brown haired boy with the purple bangs was in front of her. He wasn't alone either.

He was sitting on a dinosaur.

"Poor you! You don't have a chance!" the boy chuckled and charged towards her.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Click the review button below to make someone super happy!**

**-Em**


	18. Chapter 18: Do they really want you?

**I'm really happy with all the reviews I recieved. I totally apperciate it. This story had about five more to go plus the epilouge. Oh, and if anyone wants to know whether Weevil and Rex die...their time will come, I promise. Anyway, please enjoy chappie 18.

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Chapter 18

_Do they really want you?_

The dinosaur charged towards Mai, jaw open showing all off its incredibly sharp teeth. The boy on top of the dinosaur laughed insanely as they came closer to Mai.

Mai was frozen in fear. It wasn't everyday she got chased by a creature that was supposed to be extinct. She didn't move until she heard its roar. Jumping out of the way, the dinosaur missed her by inches. As it continued to run, it rammed right into the wall.

"Idiot!" the boy cried out.

The dinosaur shook its head and turned back to Mai. Mai saw that there was a dent in the wall. "Who are you and why are you attacking me?" she asked.

Smirking, the boy said, "Well, since I'm going to kill you in a few minutes anyway…my name is Rex. Why am I attacking you? Because you're annoying."

When he said this, the dinosaur charged again. Mai, now infuriated with being called annoying, planted her feet firmly to the ground. If this guy wasn't going to stop attacking her, she was going to kill him. Remembering the belt bands around her wrists she twirled.

The silver bands began to grow a deep violet. The amethyst inlaid in them burned an even darker color. There was a crash from above. A mini tornado flew into the room and fell onto Mai. It surrounded her, growing larger with each spin the girl made. It began to grow amethyst color itself.

Mai stopped twirling and stepped out of wind. "Go."

The dinosaur had stopped running after the glass broke. It had watched in horror as the wind became fiercer and way more violent. Rex grew angrier. This creature was supposed to listen to him! "Dumb beast! It is only wind. It can't hurt you!"

But the dinosaur wasn't listening. It was only listening to its own thoughts. The dinosaur was surprised it could even think. The one thought that kept coming up was…

**RUN**.

The dinosaur vaulted Rex of its back; much like a donkey would a rider, and began head butting the dent in the wall it had made before. Rex was so angry, his cheeks felt like they were on fire. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

The dinosaur finally broke through the wall and charged out. Rex turned away from it. It didn't matter if the beast went away…he could always summon another.

To bad Rex wasn't paying attention; if he had been he would have seen the tornado come even closer. Turning around, Rex shrieked. The tornado wrapped itself around the boy, throwing him around in its vortex like a doll. Finally the torment stopped and the boy dropped fifty feet.

"Take that you freak!" Mai said, hands on her hips. She was slightly out of breath.

Her breath caught in throat when she saw Rex perform hands signs and drawing symbols in the air. The boy never hit the ground. A Tyrannosaurus Rex caught him. Mai knew what this one was called from the one time she went to the library. The dinosaur looked almost exactly like the picture from the box.

The placed Weevil on the ground and took a few steps towards Mai. He made it over to her in four. He bent down to pick her up with its little arms. Shaking Mai sent a wave of air at him. He didn't even flinch.

She felt the scaly claw wrap around her trembling form and the rush of air as she was lifted high into the air. She closed her eyes in fright. When she felt the lifting stop she opened them up and screamed. The giant teeth of the Rex were the size of her body.

"So Mai, ready to die?" Rex asked, staring at her evilly.

* * *

When Anzu had blacked out, she felt nothing. She awakened a few minutes later to see she was in one of the many gardens of the palace. She was lying next to a fountain. Rubbing her eyes. She sat up and looked around. 

This garden was full of roses of all different colors. There was red, white, pink and a rose color that was introduced by mages a few years ago…the blue rose of Crishan. It was said that the rose was created with water and the petals felt like solid liquid, yet it wasn't ice.

Walking over to one, she smelt it. It smelt of the sea and Anzu could almost hear the gull dries and the soft lapping of the waves. Anzu heard a pooping noise and the sound of boots clicking the ground.

Anzu saw that the little girl…what was her name? Oh yes, Rebecca…was there. The girls white robe billowed in the night air. "So, little orphan girl woke up."

Anzu's eyes widened. "How do you now that?"

Rebecca smiled and pointed down towards her robe. "I am a white robed mage. I am able to see into people souls at will. I now you were abandoned when you were young."

Anzu felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Also, You don't know why."

She sniffled.

"You now what I think? I think you were to much trouble."

A tear fell down her face.

"You were worthless."

Another tear followed.

"Just like you are worthless to Yami and your friends."

She sniffled again.

"Your not good enough for him you now. He deserves someone better. A strong girl with power and is not a little servant but a mage. Someone like…"

Anzu's heart felt like it was being ripped from her chest. Did he truly love her? Did she really have friends? "…Me."

Rebecca laughed. She was destroying Anzu from the inside. _Maybe I should ask Bakura not to kill Yami…I want him to be my own personal toy._

Anzu felt a wave of power rush through her. No. If Anzu couldn't have Yami's love, no way was some blond wench going to get her Yami. Anzu's vision turned blue like the ocean. She saw something swimming towards her.

The magnificent dolphin she had seen when she had received her powers swam around her in circles. _Anzu._

"Yes?" Anzu thought spoke. She was holding her breath in fear of drowning.

_This girl is trying to hurt your heart. You have let her stab you in too many places. It is time to fight. Your friends treasure you deeply in their hearts. Do not listen to her hurtful words. Listen to your own insights._

"Thank you."

Anzu stood up. Putting her arms towards her necklace, she began to fell her aura grow more powerful. Rebecca took a step back. What was going on?

"You will pay for this dear Rebecca."

* * *

Yami felt a pang in his heart. Something was terribly wrong. 

_Anzu is in trouble_!

Turning towards Bakura who had fire burns all over his arms, Yami asked the man, "Had enough?"

Though Bakura wasn't weak, he felt his energy draining. This boy had so much anger. Maybe he shouldn't have pissed the by off. Bakura nodded. "I have had it with Lord Pegasus. I will help you find your beloved Anzu."

Yami nodded and helped the man get up.

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**Remember to review! **

**-Em**


	19. Chapter 19: Seto, I am your Stepfather

**Hello! What's up? Sorry I've been gone for about two or three weeks. I've had a little trouble coming up with ideas and I'm planning my next door which will start after the end of this one. Oh, and sorry for all this confusion in the story. All the confusion will hopefully end either this or next chapter. Also, by request, I will make a spirit guide during Thanksgiving weekend that will hopefully make things clearer and give you some backround info. Enjoy!**

**By the way... I've been forgetting about the disclaimer or whatever. This disclamer is for the last nineteen chapters plus this one. I DON"T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE IDEA (which you can't steal).

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Chapter 19

_Seto, I am Your Stepfather_

Anzu's hand clasped the necklace around her neck. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Rebecca continued to back up, staring at the girl in wonder and fear. How did she get back up?

Rebecca watched as the air surrounding Anzu slowly began to turn the shade of cerulean that was the exact same color as her eyes. Anzu's eyes opened revealing a fire in her eyes. The arm that wasn't clasped around the necklace lifted up.

The blonde girl gasped.

A stream of water from the fountain had begun to float In the air and slowly twisted around the glowing girl's form. Anzu's arm shot out. Rebecca shook. The girl's glowing blue finger was pointing at her!

Rebecca cried out in shock and tried to think up a spell. Right!

"Dleihs!" Rebecca raised her arms to protect herself from the waters lash. She heard something banging and looked up to see a pink bubble surrounding her.

Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, Anzu would give up before her shield broke. That wasn't going to happen though. Anzu frowned. This time she gathered a more powerful water ball and looked at Rebecca who was staring at her in terror.

Anzu had her doubts. Maybe she shouldn't do this…No! Anzu was going to save her friends. This girl needed to be gone! She threw the ball. "Wait!"

The ball stopped not even a foot away from the pink shield. Anzu stared icily at the girl before her gaze softened. The blonde haired girl looked pitiful. Her robes were dirty from when she had fallen on her knees in fear when the ball was thrown. Rebecca's eyes were puffy from crying.

"What?" Anzu asked. She said it a bit rudely. She didn't want Rebecca to see that her temper had boiled down.

The younger girl sniffled. "Please, I don't want to fight anymore."

"Am I really supposed to believe that?"

"Listen to me please! Lord Pegasus went into my country higher north of Crishan and destroyed my kingdom. I watched him kill the prince. Please, I'm a good person. Let me help you."

Anzu began to think when she heard someone call her name. She knew that voice. "Yami?" she whispered to herself and turned around.

* * *

It was him! Anzu shrieked in happiness and ran into the arms of the prince who hugged her quiet hard. She didn't care though. Yami was here. That's all that mattered. "Oh Yami, it's so wonderful to see you." 

Anzu looked up into the magenta orbs of the man that was holding her. He stared at her for a second before performing an act that would have made Serenity squeal in happiness and Mai whistle. Anzu herself squeaked.

Yami kissed her!

And Anzu had something to say about that. That prince knew what he was doing. It was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her. When he stopped she was very grateful he was holding her up. "Anzu, I've been worried."

The girl could only nod in her state of weakness. There was a couch from a few feet away from them. The couple looked over at Bakura and Rebecca. Bakura had a smile on his face but a look in his eyes that said, "Okay, you got your woman. Let's go!"

Rebecca was cheerful again but was a little weak. She was holding Bakura's arm for support. She had gotten to know the man through their terrible journey and had become a friend of his. "Are we ready?"

Anzu looked up at Yami. "Let's find our friends."

* * *

Seto growled and smacked the carpet that was underneath him with an angry fist. He was very angry with himself. Seto had fainted. 

Seto of Arilea does NOT faint.

He was mentally kicking himself when he heard a deep chuckle coming from in front of him. Before looking at the voice's owner, Seto quickly analyzed the room. He happened to be in the throne room of the palace.

He slowly got up. The same chuckle echoed throughout the room.

Seto searched his mind. He had heard it so many times before. Who the hell was it? Trying to keep himself from asking, he looked over at the chairs where the king and queen of Crishan were supposed to sit.

Instead he saw the cloaked figure that had been with the other villains. But who was it? The white haired man, Bakura, hadn't given the figure a name. "Why do you get up boy?"

Startled, Seto said, "What?"

"Idiot. I asked why do you get up when you are going to fall down again?"

Seto walked closer to the figure. "Who's going to make me fall? You?"

"Eventually. I like killing as much as testing someone's intellect. Tell me Seto of Arilea, have you guessed who am I yet?"

Seto held back a gasp, but couldn't stop his eyes from bulging. No. Not him. Anything but that jerk. "So you figured it out. I always knew you had a smart head on your bony shoulders."

Ignoring the remark about his weight (he usually violently attacked the person who made fun of him), he said, "Gozaburo, take the cloak off you old fool."

"Fine, if you're not afraid to look upon your dear stepfather."

"The only thing that could ever be frightened of you, Gozaburo, is yourself."

The hooded figure pulled off its hood, revealing the face of dear Seto's stepfather with his oily dark green hair and dark black eyes. But there was something off about him. He didn't seem real.

"I thought you were dead. Your body is buried in the land of Arilea. Why are you walking like a man who is alive?"

Gozaburo had a thoughtful look on his face, the kind of look he usually had on when he was thinking of a move in a chess game. "I might as well tell you. I am not alive."

Seto quickly recovered from his two-second shock. How could his stepfather be alive? "I figured out who you work for by the way."

"Really?"

"Yes. The Chaos Lord who has taken over these lands. He gave you a body didn't he?"

"Yes he did," when Gozaburo said this, he opened his cloak to reveal a body but…it was slowly fading away, "but my body won't be truly real until I kill you my dear son."

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME YOUR SON!"

Seto unsheathed his sword. He looked at his reflection in the shining silver sword. His face was set. He was going to deal with this problem once and for all. It was time to get rid of his past, right here and now.

The older man chuckled and unsheathed his own sword. "You think you can beat me?"

"I KNOW I can beat you, old fool!" And with that, he lunged at the man who had changed his life. When the swords clanged, Seto felt confused inside.

Was being picked off the streets really such a bad thing?

The two broke apart. At the second clang, he began to think even more. What a strange thing to do when he was battling the man he hated the most. Was becoming a prince and an heir to the Arilean throne such a horrible disaster?

The man slashed out at him. The tip clipped his tunic. He glanced at his arm. There was no wound. "Head in the clouds, Seto?" the man taunted, smirking evilly.

Crying out in anger, Seto brought his sword up, down, across and finally…

…Wiped Gozaburo's head clear off his shoulders.

The head rolled into the pool of blood that was on the carpet. Seto turned away from the sickening sight. He didn't see that coming. The room began to grow dark. It continued until it was pitch black, like the cave where he received his magic.

He noticed a lighter shade of black goo slinking towards Gozaburo's body. The goo was flecked with red sparks that glinted evilly. He watched in horror as the goo began to swallow Gozaburo's body.

When it was finished, it turned towards Seto. Seto raised his sword in defense. IT slowly approached the bor. Seto lashed out. The goo screamed (or whatever the noise the goo made when it was in pain) and withered away, the darkness following it.

Seto looked at the blood pool still in front of him. He shook his head and said, "I told you I'd beat you."

He looked down at his sword and saw that it was a little bloody. Wiping it on the carpet and wondered if he should name his sword. It sounded a little girly, but the sword deserved it. "Avenger," he said aloud and resheathed it.

A shock pulsed through his body, making his hand fly towards his temple. "Shit," he said and ran out of the room. Before exiting, he called out behind him, "Gozaburo, Mokuba and I are finally free."

He quickly changed his attention to the task at hand. It was time to help his…friends. He knew she was in trouble, How could she not be? "Serenity," Seto said, running towards the light.

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**Hope you liked it. Please, please review. More reviews, the faster I go!**

**-Em**


	20. Animal Spirit Guide

**Okay, I was asked to do this by one of my revewiers. This actually took a little longer than I thought it would. It took a lot of looking through old notes I had had for this story. I had to make up a few things as well. If you think I have anything wrong, please tell me. Also, the next chapter will be coming soon.

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THE ELEMENTAL GUIDE

_**(As told by Fatima)**_

The elements are an extremely powerful force. Each element is unique. They all have their own 'special' ability that differs from the others, other than being able to control the element. For instance, the dark and light elements are able to fade into their surroundings and disappear. When they think of a place they want to go, they fade into the area. It just depends on what the lighting is like.

The elements that are used are Light, Water, Dark, Fire, Earth, and Air (wind). There is no 'all powerful' element. They even each other out, like fire spreads with wind and water nourishes the earth.

The original elements were in a lot of trouble in their time. It was the first time Chaos had ever appeared. It attacked all countries and ravaged the nations of their wealth, resources, and people. It was like a plague, a very deadly one at that.

It was then when the six heroes realized their destiny. They were lead by the great prophet of the clan of Elements, my father. The six of them were named Veata, Nitesh, Thuy, Darjan, Allayna, and Hakan.

Each of these great warriors has an interesting tale behind their names but I really don't want to bore you so I will just tell you how the elements meet their guides. My father used to tell me that every single human has a guide deep within himself or herself. Some people call it a soul, but it is quite different.

Everyone has a soul. It is unique; it has its own path and helps a person along their way. Sometimes, well, most of the time, you can't hear it. So, your soul creates an image of animal that most likely represents you and your soul.

The elements have a special power that let's them be able to merge and talk to their sprit guides. That is how the new and old elements received their magic. The elements at the moment have not _fully_ merged with their guides.

As you know, Seto and Serenity both have wolves. A wolf can be represented in two different ways. One: a wolf is a pack member. They are loyal and sing with their friends and loved ones. Serenity is most like this side of the wolf, the lighter side. Second: a wolf can be exiled and can be a loner. They set themselves apart and sing by themselves. They always want to be with a pack, even if they don't even know. That is Seto's half of the wolf, the darker side.

Joey has a tiger. A lion would have worked to if a tiger hadn't sacrificed his life to save Nitesh when a chaos minion was attacking him. The tiger is like the lion and a panther. It is a proud creature and quite famous. It is also a sly and mysterious beast and should not be double-crossed.

Anzu has a dolphin. Dolphins are amazingly intelligent and are usually represented with the qualities of fun, living life, and serene beauty. It matches Anzu's personality perfectly, in my opinion.

Yami's is different from the others he has a mythical beast for a guide. Having a mythical beast is usually associated with having magic of some sort. For instance, Rebecca actually has a pixie for a guide. Yami got a phoenix because it is associated with fire. Hakan 'owned' the first phoenix ever (souls go from one place to another, the cycle never stops. All souls are connected with each other. Hakan and Thuy had a very close relationship just like Yami and Anzu).

Mai got the golden eagle. Gold is such a royal color and is associated with freedom. The eagle is associated with freedom (which I think Mai is always looking for other than friends) and with flight.

All the elements guides are associated with their element.

I will also tell you something else. I think the elements need to balance themselves out, which is why these opposites are attracting each other.

I hope for all our sakes the elements defeat chaos. The prophecy my father made didn't have an ending to it. Hopefully, they can do it. I know they can.

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**Chapter 20 coming Soon.**

**-Em**


	21. Chapter 20: Our Knights in Shining Armor

**Sorry for the long wait (again) and the crappy title (again) but I really hope you like this chapter!

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Chapter 20

Our Knights in Shining Armor

Serenity eyes were wide open in fear. She felt Weevil's tail clench her form even harder and whimpered. Weevil smirked in triumph. She was just as weak as he thought she would be. He loosened his grip and pulled his tail back for another blow.

The girl smiled and brought her staff in front of her. Quickly, she twirled it like she had seen some of the performers had done at her eighth birthday. Serenity saw the white sparkled forming around the staff and twirled even faster. Weevil's tail came thundering down upon her. "TAKE THAT!"

Lifting her staff (which was still twirling) over her head, Serenity repelled the blow. Weevil howled in agony. When his tail hit the spinning staff it had burned immensely. "You little brat!" he cried.

"I don't want to fight you! I apologized for killing the bug," Serenity said. It wasn't in her nature to fight or to kill.

Unfortunately, her enemy was ready to kill her in the most painful ways he could think of. Also, he had some other plans up his sleeves. "Saying sorry won't bring it back," he said.

"It was a bug!" Serenity cried, exasperated.

"To you maybe!" Weevil slammed his tail into the ground. Like before, bugs crawled onto her. Serenity immediately felt sick to her stomach. Angry with the boy, she felt her skin turn white hot. The bugs 'screamed' in agony and fell to the ground. They were fried to a crisp.

Serenity flew back into a nearby rock. She felt her bones crack and screamed. She fell to the ground in a limp pile. Feeling herself being lifted up into the air, she saw that it was Weevils hand. She tried to make her skin white-hot again, but her energy was draining fast.

Her staff lay uselessly on the ground. She bowed her head in defeat. The battle was over. Weevil was victorious. "I win," he said and clenched her even harder in his grasp.

Serenity felt herself begin to black out. At least when the bugs were eating her, she would be too weak and tired to watch or feel anything. _I hope the others will be okay. That's all that matters, _she thought and prepared herself.

* * *

There was a slicing noise and then a scream. She felt herself falling, falling, falling…and then land into some ones awaiting arms. The screams continued. Serenity was a bit frightened. She opened her eyes weakly. Her eyes lighted up when she saw who had caught her. "Seto," she breathed and then hugged him as hard as she could (which wasn't that hard at all). 

The person who had saved her was indeed Prince Seto. He had arrived just in time. He had been running out of the castle when he saw the light shield at work. Running in that direction, all he could think about was getting there in time. That's all that mattered. When he had arrived, he saw Serenity in the clutches of the most ugly creature the Prince had ever seen (other than his stepfather of course) and unsheathed Avenger.

Jumping onto the creature's tail of the creature. Climbing up, he found that the creature was just a mass of bugs. Slightly disgusted he made into to the top. The thing was so interested in the girl he hadn't noticed Seto. Using this to his advantage, Seto jumped into the air and sliced straight through the beast.

Using a regular sword, the sword would have gotten stuck in the beast and Weevil wouldn't have noticed. But it was the Avenger that Seto was using that had dark magic in its blade that could kill an ordinary man with a tap form the tip of the blade. The bugs died and Weevil fell to the ground screaming.

Serenity was caught right before she hit the ground. Seto watched as she cautiously opened her eyes and watched them light up to the sight of him. He felt an overpowering sense of joy that he had only felt a couple time and that was when he was with Mokuba. His heart swelled when she threw her arms around his neck and laughed in happiness. "I'm so happy to see you!" she cried and tried to hug him harder, which felt like a regular embrace.

Feeling awkward, he coughed and said, "Likewise."

Smiling, the girl giggled and asked if she could be put down now. Blushing in embarrassment, he opened dropped her onto the ground. "How did you find me? Where are the others? Did you have to fight someone? If so, who? Where's Joey?"

He walked over to her staff and replied, "Light shield. I don't know. Yes. My stepfather and I don't know."

Smirking (or was he smiling), he watched he bewildered face. "Now my turn," Seto said as he handed back the staff, "Who was that and why were you fighting? Why didn't you attack it? Are you hurt? Do you feel well?"

"He said his name was Weevil and I accidentally squished one of his bug friends and he kind of morphed into that thing. I did attack him but it didn't work. Yes and I feel fine."

"Where does it hurt?"

"My left arm but-"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Huh?"

Looking at her arm she saw that the scratch on her arm was gone. What happened to it? "Did it heal by itself?" Serenity asked.

"I guess the light element has healing abilities," Seto said.

The two looked back at the form of Weevil. The bugs he had worshipped were slowly eating he up. Serenity looked away. Grabbing a hold of his hand, she pulled him next to her. They walked beck to the castle, hand in hand, and began to search for the others.

* * *

Joey woke up and almost pulled this blonde hair out. Where the hell was he? Where were the others? That Arilean prince better not be with Serenity… 

He growled and got up, looking around the room, he saw something in a faded light. Wondering where the light was coming from, he walked over. When he was almost about to reach it, he slammed into something hard. He fell back and landed on his backside. He was cursing loudly while holding his nose.

Angry, Joey kicked the air in front of him and howled in pain. He had hit something hard. Getting up (while rubbing his butt), he put a hand out and felt glass in front of him. He heard noise coming form the other side of the glass and watched as a throne appeared, then a man sat in the throne, and finally a boy walked over to the throne. "Father," the boy said quietly.

The prince watched the scene before him and instantly remembered this scene. He hated how this ended. That boy was he. The man in the throne was his father. Coren. "Yes, Joseph?" inquired the king.

"Father, my teacher is being cruel to me. He won't let me use two arrows at once," Little Joseph whined.

Coren chuckled and said, "Stop whining you little baby. Go cry somewhere else you stupid, ugly brat."

Joey shuddered with the younger version of himself. The bad part was coming soon, the part that made Joey unable to ever forgive his father. "Father," Little Joseph asked, "Have you been drinking again?"

Joey watched as the younger clone was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and forced to drink the whiskey the king always kept by his side. He watched as the boy forcefully swallowed the drink. The image faded away and the glass wall disappeared. "What a terrible memory."

Hearing a scream, Joey jumped up and unsheathed his blade. He knew whom that scream belonged to and by the sound of it, she was in trouble.

* * *

The teeth of the dinosaur glistened in the light. Mai could see herself reflected in them. Her face was one of utter shock. She was amazed to see a dinosaur, even though it was about to kill her. She was also surprised her attacks didn't work. 

Rex slid down the T-Rex's back and smiled evilly down at Mai. "So…how do you like your present situation?"

Mai spat at the boy. She used her wind powers so it defied gravity and smacked him in the face. Rex wasn't fazed though. He wiped the saliva off and his smile widened. "I was going to be nice and let you die really quick, just a one-gulp thing. But now I think I'm going to make you feel every teeth this dinosaur has and then leave you there to die."

"I don't think so."

A piece of the wall flew at the T-Rex and it feel to the ground. Mai was released form its grip. She quickly jumped away from the best. She turned to where the piece of wall came from and she saw none other than Prince Joseph. "Joey!" she cried.

They hugged fiercely and Mai kissed him gently. Both of them blushed. Joey ran a hand through her hair. "Are you okay?"

"I'm here aren't I?" Mai said.

"Hey loved birds. I'm still here and so is my friend," Rex called and the T-Rex roared.

Mai's eyes turned a violent shade of violet (lol) and the bands around her wrists burned with a silver glow. She felt the air around her begin to speed up and she made a circle shape with her hands. A ball of wind formed. She screeched as she threw the ball at the boy. He was to shocked to move but the T-Rex batted it away with a flick of its tail. "My powers are useless against the dinosaur," Mai said to Joey.

"I'll kill Rex then. He must be the life force for the dinosaurs he summons."

Joey charged at Rex. The dinosaur swung its tail at the boy. The ground underneath them began to shake and huge chunks of it flew up to protect Joey from the blows. Rex was right in front of him now. Rex stared in wonder as the chunks of earth surrounded them., preventing the T-Rex from getting to them and from Mai's view.

"Who are you?" Rex asked.

Joey simply shook his head and unsheathed his sword. "Does it really matter?" He asked solemnly.

* * *

Mai watched as the dinosaur disappeared in a puff or white smoke. It was like he hadn't even been there. If the dinosaur was gone that meant Joey had killed Rex. Mai felt a bit said. She didn't really approve of killing, though if she had to do it, she would. 

The ground that had blocked her view fell away and Joey drifted over. They walked out of the ballroom and back into the castle where they had first gone. They needed their friends now.

* * *

**Okay, so everyone has faced there problems and Gozaburo, Weevil and Rex are finally dead (yay). Now our heros will have to face their greatest battle and Marik will have a larger part and so will Fatima. If you figured out a secret of mine, try to guess! Fatima says something at the end of the SAG that can give you a hint and so can another chapter. **

**-Em**


	22. Chapter 21: The Mastermind Behind It All

**Well, this is really the last chapter. BUT, there is still an epilougue! Aren't you all excited? I'm not! sniffle It ended so fast! Thanks to all the reviewers. Also, thanks for waiting. I've really been out of inspriation lately.**

**Oh! And if any of you are Poke'mon fans...I have a story up.

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Chapter 21

_The Mastermind Behind It All_

Yami, Anzu, Bakura and Rebecca walked back into the castle. Yami and Anzu walked ahead of Bakura and Rebecca who were into a deep discussion of their respective battles with the chosen. Rebecca, who was still a little fazed with the battle, whispered to Bakura, "I can't believe she almost killed me."

Bakura nodded knowingly. "I think their power comes from their passion and emotions. We both mentioned their relationship in our fights and we fueled their anger."

Ahead, Yami had his arm wrapped around Anzu's waist. Anzu's head rested on his shoulder. Thoughts raced through her head, clouding her vision. They had so many things to do. Find their friends, defeat this man, Lord Pegasus, and…wait. What happens after that? Anzu looked up at Yami who in turn looked down. He smiled and then led them down another hallway. "Where are we going?"

Anzu had completely forgotten about the man and the witch. Yami replied, "Well the throne room. Where else would an evil man be?"

"How many throne rooms do you have?" Bakura asked, "We've only been here a few days."

"Two. The day throne to the east and the ballroom thrones in the south."

"It's the southern one. It's bigger right?"

Yami nodded and quickly withdrew his arm from Anzu's waist. Sad, Anzu felt herself want to put. A hand clasped around hers and she saw Yami smiling at her. "Let's go. We have to finish this now."

Cocking her head in confusion, Anzu, "What about the others?"

He smiled wider. "I trust those men. They will find the girls and bring them with them. We will either meet them there or they will meet us."

Rebecca nodded. "They aren't dead. No one can die in the hand of those two idiots, Rex and Weevil. Those boys are probably okay as well. The illusions were just testers."

Happier, Anzu squeezed Yami's hand. He squeezed back and the two, followed by their new comrades, ran south, towards the throne room.

* * *

The thrones in the ballroom were very elaborate. Velvet colored cushions adorned the chair backs and seats. The middle one had red colored cushion and gold armrests and designs around the cushions. On the top was a symbol of a star. On the queen's throne was violet cushioned and had silver designs and a moon above it. Yami's was red with gold and a sun above it.

The four walked cautiously into the room. There wasn't any light in the room. There did seem to be something near the throne tough. That's where the darkness seemed to be coming from. Anzu recalled that the sun had come up a little while ago. She looked around her. There was nothing but blackness. She felt Yami grip her hand harder.

Yami tried to act confident. He had to…for Anzu's sake. Bakura and Rebecca walked behind them. "Yami, use your magic," Bakura said.

Feeling stupid that he hadn't thought of that, Yami quickly lit all the torches that adorned the walls. Having been in this room countless times, he knew where everything was. The room was instantly bathed in light. The four looked to the thrones. A person occupied the Kings throne. Yami felt himself get anger. The fire on the torches burned yellow licked with white. "You! Get out of that chair!"

A dark chuckle sounded throughout the room. Anzu felt a chill run up her spine. How could a single noise strike fear in her? She watched as Yami's face contorted with rage. He looked slightly shaken. Was he…afraid?

Though never royal herself, she had been in court for a few years. Mokuba had opened up to her as well before he became a page. Always ranting about Gozaburo and Seto and unfairness and all the other terrible things the country of Arilea had to face. Anzu didn't have to worry about what Yami was thinking. She already had an idea. The enemy sitting in the Crishan kings chair had something to do with the flames almost turning blue. Bakura muttered, "Lord Pegasus."

She couldn't really see him for where she was standing, even with the room practically glowing. All she could tell was that he had shoulder length platinum hair and was clad in black. The only color around him was the red rose he spun between his fingers. He laughed again. "So, the great prince of Crishan has returned. How touching. Have you come back to reclaim your throne, fire lord?"

Yami's frown deepened. Pegasus continued. "I see you have brought others. The water chosen, I see. Oh! What is this? Two of my own have betrayed me?"

He didn't sound all that surprised. Bakura and Rebecca shivered. They felt as if a ghostly hand had run a finger slowly down their backs. Pegasus chuckled. _How annoying,_ Yami thought. "You think so? Then I will continue to do so because you enjoy it so much."

The boy wasn't at all surprised he could read minds. Some of his minions could, why not the lord himself? He still loathed the man and he barely knew who he was. Without warning, Yami unsheathed his swords and ran at Pegasus. "Yami!" Anzu cried.

Only a few feet away, Yami felt his rage grow stronger and stronger. This man…No! He did not deserve to be called a human. This _monster_ had killed too many people, had taken too many lives. "IT ENDS NOW!"

Pegasus smirked. "Really?"

Darkness surrounded the man. Waving his hand towards Yami and plumes of black flew at him at an alarming speed. Yami's violet eyes widened. Darkness crawled up his leg. He hacked at it. He cut the end part off. The blackness stuck to his leg like octopus tentacles, latching onto his leg and not letting go. Yami cried out and anger. Using his magic, his body became on fire. The tentacles jumped off and rejoined the man plumes. Touching the rubies on his blades, he quickly set them a flame and charged at the darkness. Pegasus smiled and said, "Fool."

The darkness seemed to become stronger. When Yami's sword slashed at it, the blade banged off. His arms quickly became numb and they fell to his side useless. The flames surrounding his body turned a pale orange. Anzu watched as he fell to his knees. Quickly, she raised her arms and water from the fountain outside smashed through the windows of the ballroom (it had glass walls in the front so there was a better view for the dancers). A wave of water swept towards the darkness. It only aimed for the blackness and went around Yami. Once again, the silver haired man smiled and flicked his fingers again.

The water was quickly sucked into the darkness. Anzu gasped. Her powers were useless! The sound of a window breaking sounded throughout the room, silencing the giggles from Pegasus. As glass rained down on them, two figures landed in the room. They stood up quickly. "Serenity! Seto!" Anzu cried.

The two began to glow, Serenity white and Seto black. Serenity smiled at Anzu. "Leave this to us."

Light flashed throughout the room, burning the darkness up. As it resided, Seto put his arm out and the remaining darkness was sucked into his grasp. Pegasus's smile faltered. "Hmm…I thought you would be dead."

"I don't die," Seto commented, glaring at the man.

Pegasus smiled again. "Oh yes you will."

He called back any darkness scraps around the room and they flew towards him. Pegasus smiled as more and more swirled around him. He clapped his hands. The darkness slowly began to turn a mix of colors that twisted and bubbled sickeningly. Anzu felt her stomach turn. Bakura gasped. "That's chaos," Rebecca whispered.

The chaos goo charged towards Seto and Serenity. Sensing that his power wouldn't stop it, he brought Serenity to him and turned so the Chaos would hit him. The two held onto each other for dear life and awaited the wave of swirling colors. It never came.

A large rock smashed through the walls of the ballroom and landed in front of Serenity and Seto, blocking the Chaos flow. They looked up to see the boulder to melt and the mass of colors flowed towards them again; they closed their eyes again in fear. The sound of rushing air made them look up and saw that a bubble of wind surrounded them. It was like a protective shell covering them from the Chaos goo. Serenity tugged on Seto's tunic. "It's Mai and Joey!" she said excitedly.

The Chaos receded and the air bubble fell away. Serenity was immediately enveloped in a hug by Joey, while Seto and Mai awkwardly said hello. Anzu cried out and they turned to see her, Bakura and Rebecca. Pegasus chuckled drawing attention to himself once again. "So, a little reunion huh? Well, since I have you were I want you…I'll let Marik finish you off."

Raising his hand, the man walked into the room. Bakura gasped. That was not his friend. The usually bright, lively violet eyes were blank and empty. In his hand was a sword. "What did you do to him?" Rebecca cried out.

"Well, he was feeling a little rebellious as well. So I bewitched his mind. He's like a puppet now," Pegasus replied and he turned towards Marik. "You'll kill them now, won't you?"

Marik charged at them. "A full on attack? Are you come kind of idiot, platinum head? I think he's blind!" Joey shouted.

The ballroom floor split and Marik began to fall through. He jumped to the left of the opening and continued forward. Lifting his hand, he sent out bolts of electricity that wrapped themselves around Joey. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Mai kneeled down next to him, trying to comfort him. Serenity raised her staff and rays of light beams shot towards Marik. He simply shot his own bolts right at them and they were deflected. As Marik reached closer, Seto unsheathed his blade and raised it to intercept Marik's blow. They clashed and Seto watched in horror as the electricity began to overpower his darkness.

Blue electricity flew at Marik, blasting him away form Seto. Bakura and Rebecca ran over. Bakura threw another bolt of blue electricity at the man who quickly raised his yellow magic in defense. Rebecca threw her own pink lighting and it was deflected as well. Yellow lighting blew the two back to the other side of the room. Marik smirked and began to charge again. He then fell backwards and gasped in shock. "Fatima?" Serenity commented, "What are you doing here?"

Fatima smiled and said, "I was meant to tell you the prophecy. I am here to protect you while you reach your goal. You must save the world."

Marik eyes widened. His eyes became less empty. "Do I know you?" he muttered.

Shaking her head, Fatima replied, "How would I have known you?"

His eyes flashed and he ran towards her. His blade fell to the ground as his two hands came together to gather all the electricity in a ball. Fatima frowned and a golden ball formed in her pal. When they hit each other, the flash was huge. Fatima and Marik's eyes widened. Images flashed through their minds. They fell to the ground.

Fatima began to slow change. Her hair turned from white to gray to black in a matter of seconds. Her hair shrunk so it was waist-length. Her eyes changed from gold to sapphire blue. Her skin changed from eerie white to a golden tan like Marik's. Marik's eyes regained their usual likeness. He stared at Fatima. Was it really Fatima?

"Isis?"

* * *

Anzu quickly ran towards Yami as everyone's attention was on Fatima and Marik. She had noticed that while the scene as happening, Pegasus was walking down to wear Yami kneeled. The boy was frozen in shock. Anzu sped up when she saw Pegasus draw a blade from the Chaos around him. Smiling, he swung the blade at Yami's neck. "No!"

Water swirled around Pegasus, pushing him back from Yami. Anzu crashed into the boy, hugging him fiercely. "Yami," she cried, "Please wake up!"

She began to weep into Yami's tunic. Anzu grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him to her, crying harder with every passing second. The water around Pegasus fell to a pool at his feet. Face contorted in rage, Chaos swirling around his body, sword in hand, he walked towards Anzu's crying body. He swung the blade down then stopped. She hadn't even turned. She just kept crying.

His eyes clouded over.

* * *

"Pegasus!"

A younger looking Pegasus turned to see a blonde-haired girl running at him. She jumped at him, sending them both crashing to the ground. The two laughed as they rolled through the field of flowers they were in. He looked at the girl on top of him when they stopped rolling. She had a beautiful face. Full lips a perfect nose, happy, light blue eyes and a charming smile. Just looking at her made his heartache with some much happiness.

"Cynthia…I love you."

The girl smiled and hugged him. They continued rolling until the flowers ended and they were at the lakes edge. They sat up and she leaned into his hold. Laughing, she looked up at him and said, "I love you too."

* * *

Three days later, he presented her with the engagement ring. The two shared another three happy years. Cynthia was all Pegasus could think about. Not about his title as a deck, not a rich mans son, but a complete person. He had found his other half.

They had made the wedding plans so it would be in June, her favorite month. That was the time were everyone was happy, no matter what the situation. In early may, bad things began to happen. Pegasus's father didn't approve of Cynthia. She wasn't exactly the richest heiress Pegasus could marry. His father wanted money, only money. That's why his father married his mother.

A month before the wedding, Cynthia was attacked on a morning ride with some friends. She was killed along with the others. Pegasus locked himself up after that. He became cold, heartless, unforgiving.

That was three years ago. During that time, Pegasus found books that told him the ancient magic that was locked away. Destroying the Chaos prison, he became the man he was today.

* * *

Serenity watched Pegasus warily as she and Seto ran towards Anzu and Yami. When they reached them, they found a weeping Anzu and a blank Yami. Serenity kneeled down next to him as Seto gently pulled Anzu off. Running her hand down her staff once, she felt the light magic flow into her. Placing a hand on his chest, she felt it leave her and flood into Yami. "What is she doing?" Anzu choked out in between tears.

Seto didn't answer. He wasn't worried about that. Serenity was healing Yami. He kept his eyes on Pegasus who began to come to from some sort of a trance. His sword and dropped from his hand and the Chaos had faded away from him. He fell to the ground, weeping into his hands. Surprised, Seto could only watch in shock as the man continued to break down. He was muttering incoherently. He only caught one word. "Cynthia."

Yami's eyes widened and he took in a deep breath; he fell into Serenity's arms. Patting her shoulder, he got up once again and turned to see Anzu staring at him. Anzu felt an urgent need to just push Serenity out of the way. Sensing she was interrupting something, she quickly got up and stepped over to Seto who hugged her. Seto watched Pegasus as Serenity watched the other two.

Joey walked over hand-in-hand with Mai. Bakura and Rebecca followed. Marik and Fatima…Isis came up behind them. Serenity watched as her brother hugged Mai tightly and Marik and Isis began to quietly whisper. Anzu and Yami were hugging as well. Feeling Seto leave her side, she turned to see what he was doing.

Seto walked over to Pegasus who had stopped crying. His hair shielded his face. Seto asked, "Are you finished?"

Pegasus looked up. His eyes were red. His face was lined with pain. He smiled slightly. "Even with all this power I couldn't bring her back. I'm ready to go see her, to be with her forever."

"Who?"

"My other half."

"Oh."

Chaos flowed towards Pegasus. He was covered in it. He rose up from the ground. His arm latched around Seto and pulled him so he was close up to the mass of Chaos. It said, "Please. Kill me now. I need to be with her."

Seto was dropped to the floor. Yami and Joey walked over. They raised their swords, each glowing with their own magic. The red, green and black swords plunged into Chaos. Water, light, and air were blasted at it. Four different colored lightings joined the barrage. The Chaos began to blink out like little stars, floating into the wind. They watched as the Chaos drifted far off in little bits of dust. Mai heard Pegasus's voice in the wind. "Cynthia, I'm coming."

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**so, you wanna know what happens next. Please leave reviews! It's the second to last chapter for goodness sakes!**

**I love you all!**

**Em**


	23. Epilogue

**Well, what'd you know! I cna't believe we've already reached the epilogue. I'm so happy this did well. Read the bottom part if you've reviewed. Even though I didn't reac my goal of 100 reviwes...I still love all the people that replied and all the people that don't reply and read. Thanks so much and enjoy the last chapter. ****

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Epilogue

Trumpets sounded throughout the courtyard of the Arilean castle. People lined the path leading to the entrance, shouting and cheering. Little boys ran through the crowd, pick-pocketing as they rushed past people. Little girls had baskets of flowers in their hands and they threw the petals into the air. Petals and confetti rained from the towers as servants laughed merrily.

The courtyard had been redone after the prince returned home. The grass was neatly trim and a beautiful shade of green. Flowers littered the walls and ground, wave after wave of color. A fountain was in the middle, water crystal clear. A wind chime hung from a tree, tinkling softly in the spring breeze. In the southeast corner of the courtyard was a space specially used for bonfires that chosen friends came to on special occasions.

Near the entrance of the castle stood a group of people. On the left side were four girls. One had long blonde hair and a violet dress almost the same shade as her eyes. Next to her stood a girl with a dark blue dress and eyes a beautiful shade of cerulean. Next to her stood a tall black haired girl with tan skin and large, dark blue eyes. She wore a simple gown of dark gold. Lastly was a small, blonde haired girl with large, light blue eyes and a pink dress.

On the right stood three boys. The first had tri-colored hair and large, amethyst eyes. He wore a dress outfit that was dark crimson. The man next to him had sandy blonde hair and tan skin. His large, light purple eyes were friendly and he wore a sliver-ish outfit. The last had white hair and opal like eyes. He wore an outfit that was a lighter blue than the other girls. In the middle stood a man in a priests outfit, smiling peacefully.

Oh. What a wonderful day for a wedding!

The trumpet stopped. The people began to slowly quiet down. The girls had stopped their petal throwing. The boys had even stopped their money grabbing. Petals still floated in the air. Gently floating down to the stone path of the courtyard. All eyes turned to watch the groom quietly come out of the palace doors were the group of people stood. They bowed gracefully towards one another before sharing smiles. Well, the groom tried to.

Seto of Arilea looked almost the same as he had been four months ago. He still had his dark brown hair and pale skin. He still had that commanding aura surrounding him. He still had the same personality. Well, almost. He seemed to have softened. His eyes weren't glaciers of coldness they were…icicles. People weren't really sure if there had been a real difference.

One person knew.

And she was walking down the stone path right now.

Joseph of Sekina couldn't help but frown a little. Yes, it was beautiful out. Yes, it was he was married. Yes, he was king. Yes, his sister was getting married. But, that was the problem. She was getting MARRIED, to SETO. He sighed. He had to give in sometime. Mai had even said so.

Serenity held onto her brother's arm, fingers trembling in happiness. A white veil hid her face so she needed to use him as a guide. Her hair was hanging loosely down her back. She wore an elegantly designed white gown with some diamonds designs. Her hair had some of the petals stuck in her hair, making her look even prettier. She was smiling underneath her veil. Feeling, all eyes on her, she blushed.

When they reached the group, Joey handed her to Seto. He gave him a cold glare and a growl. Seto kept a straight face. His attention was on the hidden girl in front of him. The priest began.

Every word made her heart leap. She watched through her veil as a boy with shaggy black hair walked over. Mokuba had decided to become the ring barrier as a joke. He smirked at his brother. They were both wearing black. In his hand was a satin black pillow. Two golden rings were cushioned on the pillow. "I do," said Seto.

She stared through the veil into his eyes as the Priest recited the lines. Her heart welled up in happiness. "I do."

Seto slipped the ring onto Serenity's finger. The cool metal chilled her skin and she felt gooseflesh rising up her arms. She reached over and picked up his ring. She put it on and he held her hands. "You may now kiss the bride."

He lifted her veil and saw that she was slightly teary eyed. Her cheeks were flushed light pink, making her look adorable. He smiled, genuinely smiled. She smiled back and the two shared the kiss that they would remember forever.

* * *

Serenity leaned against the edge of the tower, looking down at the festivities. People were dancing, laughing, and having a wonderful time. Serenity felt happy just watching them. While walking up to this spot, she had seen the servants dancing as well. They attempted to bow, but she waved them off. There weren't any ranks tonight.

This spot was the first place Seto had taken her when she came to visit two weeks after the incident. He said he had visited this spot when he first got back. He said he never had come up here before. Serenity commented that it must be the view. They had come out during the daylight and you could see miles and miles away.

She looked down to see Yami spinning Anzu gracefully around the garden. They were laughing and smiling and staring deeply into each other's eyes, Serenity remembered her thoughts when they had met the Prince.

_

* * *

Serenity listened to the Queen tell this boy their names. He turned to them in turn bowing with his head down. When Anzu was called she could have sworn she saw a faint blush. She smiled. Anzu was red as well. Hm… Serenity thought, I wonder…_

* * *

She chuckled to herself. Of course she was right. How could she mess up love? Love was something she had known all her life._

* * *

He turned around and saw Serenity still behind him. He smiled warmly at her. She smiled back and pointed for him to look around again. Turning he almost jumped. There was a pair of sharp grape colored eyes right up in his face._

_Stepping back, Joey tried extremely hard not to let his mouth hang up in shock. A woman the exact same height as him was standing with her hands on her hips looking at him. She had long, wavy blonde hair and pale skin. She had red rose lips and wore white shirt, silk breeches, stockings and dress boots. She smiled at him and said something. _

"_Sorry, missed that," he said to the girl._

_"Welcome to the Top of the Mountain Inn. I am the owner of this place. My name is Mai," she said sticking out her hand.

* * *

_

It was another love at first sight situation. Did she and Seto have that situation as well? It might have been. He had shown interest in her, Always watching out for her and everything. He was such a kind person.

She had missed the flag ceremony. The new Arilean flag began to blow in the wind. It was half black, half white. In the middle was a golden wolf. Other flags flew form the towers. Blue with a red phoenix on it. The other one was a checkered violet and purple with eagle carrying a sword.

Turning, she saw on her left a hill. On the hill was a tall maple tree. Underneath it were two gravestones. Seto had made them a week after they had gotten back. One of the headstones read, "Pegasus of Crishan. Finally buried with his other half."

Serenity thought of the half comment as the soul mate theory. There was one for everybody. Was Seto hers? Flashing through their journey, she knew that of course he was. He knew as well, even though he would only admit it to her. That would only matter. Hans wrapped around her waist, squeezing her gently.

She smiled and felt him whisper in her ear, "Watch the sky."

"Why not the sunset?"

"Just watch."

She watched as the sky darkened. When it was completely pitch black she gasped. Stars began blinking into existence, one by one. The two sat down and she cuddled into him, watching as the night sky became alight with stars. "It's beautiful."

The two stayed there for the rest of the night, watching the sky grow lighter and lighter.

**

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I would just like to thank all the people that have replied to this story. You kept me writing all this time and I love you so much. These people are:**

**Azure Sands,** Guitar Master**, Miss Setsuki, **YGOwriter**, LilDreamyGirl87, **xXRoseGoddessX**x, Luvformusic,** anonymous Jewel**, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only,** ANZUXATEM4EVER**, chibineko or Maridel,** Kizzy Bliss**, NK-1124, **KibumiWong**, spiritrain, **Kagome437**, ShadowXAngel, **actress19**, Antina,** Seto's Nice Girl**, plasma-sabre,** Misti-chan**, PretJB4eva, **CN**, Mysticalelf,** Luhv-Kirk-4ever**, Imperfect Paradise, **Noby**, Lithoniel,** angel-chan**, Citrus Newt**

**I LOVE ALL OF YOU! Please check out my next story: The Wish Bracelet. It has the same pairings but its mainly Seto and Serenity. More detail will be posted in my profile later today or tomorrow.**

**I'm glad this story did well. I thank you all!**

**See you in the next story!**

**-Kikari**


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